Newsmaker

FBI probed MJ after child abuse claims

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-23 09:52

Michael Jackson waves to the crowd gathered in front of the Sydney Opera House in this November 17, 1996 file photo. [Agencies]

NEW YORK: Newly released documents show the FBI helped facilitate interviews in the Philippines carried out by California authorities investigating Michael Jackson for the sexual abuse of young boys.

The files, released Tuesday, show an investigator from the Los Angeles Police Department and another from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office arrived in Manila in September 1993 to speak to two former Neverland employees who claimed they saw Jackson fondle young boys.

Their arrival in the Philippines came after the Los Angeles Police Department asked the FBI if it wanted to work a possible case against Jackson for transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes. The FBI checked with the US Attorney's Office, which declined.

The files say an FBI agent accompanied the California officials to the first interview to make sure there were no problems.

The cover page of part of the FBI's file on entertainer Michael Jackson detailing an investigation into a suspected child pornography videotape owned by the entertainer is seen in this photograph released to Reuters December 22, 2009. [Agencies]