World News

Jackson acquitted of all charges

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Weakly blowing kisses of gratitude to his screaming fans, Michael Jackson left court a free man June 13 and returned to Neverland to pick up the pieces of his shattered career after he was cleared of all child-molestation charges.

The Peter Pan of pop music could have gotten nearly 20 years behind bars if convicted of charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer surviｖor at Neverland in 2003.

Jurors also acquitted Jackson, 46, of getting the boy drunk and of conspiring to imprison the accuser and his family at Neverland, bringing an end to a four-month trial in which the star said he was the victim of mother-and-son con artists.

But Jackson's legal victory came at a terrible price to his image. Prosecutors branded him a deviant who used his playland as the ultimate pervert's lair, plying boys with booze and porn.

Defense lawyers described the pop star as a humanitarian who wanted to protect kids and give them the life he never had while growing up as a child star. The boy had asked to meet Jackson when he thought he was dying of cancer.

The defense said the family exploited the boy's illness.

"I haven't been betrayed or deceived by children," Jackson said. "Adults have let me down."

Shukan ST: June 24, 2005

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