Children still visiting Neverland

Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial has not stemmed visits by youngsters to his Neverland ranch, his spokeswoman said.

While Jackson is in court, his staff regularly greets children who want to visit the singer’s amusement park of a home, which includes a zoo, carnival rides, trains, an arcade and other entertainment, said Raymone Bain.

“There are over 1,000 requests a month from organisations wanting to take children to Neverland,” Bain said outside the Santa Maria court, about a 35 minute drive from the estate in rural Los Olivos.

Bain said Jackson does not have time to interact with the children and very rarely sees them. She said one exception was around the holidays when he made a point of meeting children when they arrived at the ranch.

She declined to name the organisations that have asked to bring children to the ranch.

She has said that on court days Jackson wakes up by 4.30am and ends his days by having dinner with his three children and holding conferences with his lawyers.

Bain also denied reports last week that Neverland staff were threatening to walk out because Jackson has not paid them.

“Those reports were grossly over exaggerated,” she said. “The staff has been paid. They were paid early last week.”