Jackson arrest warrant issued

An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael Jackson on multiple counts of child molestation.

The pop superstar has been asked to turn in his passport and surrender.

Bail would be set at $3m (€2.52m), Sheriff Jim Anderson told a news conference in Santa Barbara, California.

The warrant was for violation of California law that prohibits lewd or lascivious acts with a child under age 14. A conviction carries three to eight years in prison.

District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said an affidavit outlining details of the case will be sealed for 45 days. He would not say how many charges Jackson faced.

Up to 70 law enforcement officials served a search warrant at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch on Tuesday and looked for evidence for more than 12 hours.

Search warrants also were served for two other locations in southern California, Anderson said. He did not disclose them.

Jackson’s spokesman Stuart Backerman said earlier today the star was consulting his lawyers and planned to issue a statement later today.

He declined further comment, saying neither he nor Jackson knew the details of the investigation.

Jackson, who reportedly was in Las Vegas when the search warrant was served, denounced media coverage in a statement released to The Associated Press by Backerman.

“I’ve seen lawyers who don’t represent me and spokespeople who do not know me speaking for me. These characters always seem to surface with dreadful allegations just as another project, an album, a video is being released,” the Jackson statement said, referring to Tuesday’s release of a greatest hits album, Number Ones.