Michael Jackson was formally charged Thursday with repeatedly molesting a cancer-stricken boy invited to his Neverland Ranch, setting the stage for what could become one of the most sensational celebrity cases this Internet-wired, 24-hour-cable world has ever seen.

Michael Jackson was charged on Thursday with nine counts of child molestation against a youth under the age of 14, including seven 'lewd acts' committed earlier this year. Jackson is seen in this Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department booking photo, November 20, 2003. [Reuters]

The nine-count felony complaint charged Jackson with seven counts alleging lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. The molestation charges each carry between three and eight years in prison.

No details of the alleged acts were included in the complaint, which repeatedly stated they were committed “with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires” of Jackson and the child.

The complaint further alleged that Jackson had “substantial sexual conduct” with the child in February and March.

A source speaking for the family has told The Associated Press the intoxicating agent was wine. A source told NBC News that the alleged victim's mother said Jackson put wine in soda cans.

Jackson’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said the pop star would fight the charges “with every fiber of his soul.”

“Michael Jackson is unequivocally and absolutely innocent of these charges,” Geragos said.

Geragos also raised doubts about the motivation of the accuser and prosecutor, who tried bringing a molestation case against Jackson in 1993.

“These charges are not only categorically untrue, but they’re driven, driven by two things: money and revenge. And we will prove that,” he said.

The charges come nearly a month after authorities raided Jackson’s Neverland Ranch and arrested him days later on suspicion of child molestation. He has been free on $3 million bail.

At a news conference, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon dismissed the suggestion that the delay in filing charges signaled a weak case. “I want to categorically say that is false,” he said.

Sneddon agreed to delay Jackson’s arraignment a week to Jan. 16 and return Jackson’s passport to allow him to travel to Britain from Dec. 20 to Jan. 6.

The allegations are believed to involve a boy, now 14, who spent nights in Jackson’s bedroom at his estate, which gets its name from the Peter Pan story.

NBC News learned Thursday that the most serious of the crimes Jackson is accused of are alleged to have happened after the accuser's mother signed an affidavit and videotaped a statement swearing nothing improper happened with her son.

Wine given in soda cans

According to sources, in late spring of this year, the alleged victim's mother went to an attorney to complain that her son told her he had been given wine in soda cans and pills by Jackson, was shown pornographic heterosexual videos on a computer and finally that the boy was touched inappropriately while the family was staying at the Neverland ranch.

Santa Barbara County court clerk Wonda Strand hands off charges filed by District Attorney Tom Sneddon at the county courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003. Sneddon filed formal charges of child molestation against singer Michael Jackson. [AP Photo]

Sources told NBC News the attorney, who had experience in molestation cases, sent the family to a psychologist who, after multiple visits, concluded the boy had been abused.

Four months after an initial Department of Children and Family Services investigation apparently cleared Jackson, on June 12-13, the attorney and doctor went back to DCFS in Los Angeles and were turned away. They then took the accusations to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, who began the official investigation, which became public when sheriff's investigators raided Neverland last month.

According to sources close to prosecutors and the boy's family, this criminal case is different from the dropped 1990s case for one key reason -- there is a witness to the alleged abuse. The accuser's younger 12-year old brother says he was in the room.

Sources who spoke directly to the accuser and his mother told NBC News the family came forward after Jackson appeared on a British documentary holding the boy's hand and admitting to sleeping in the same room.

After the documentary aired, the mother says Jackson became nervous about the press and, to shield them from reporters, moved her and the children out of their Los Angeles home for private jet rides to fancy hotels -- first in Palm Beach, Florida, then Westlake Village, California, and finally to Jackson's ranch, where and when the mother says the abuse occurred.

The mother told attorneys she "felt held against her will" and had trouble getting personal belongings returned.

Erratic behavior

The arrest came just as Jackson released a greatest-hits album, which has had disappointing sales. Jackson’s record sales overall have slumped in recent years, and he has gained more attention for his bizarre behavior — dangling his infant son from a hotel balcony, radically altering his face through plastic surgery, sharing his bedroom with children — than for his music.

This week, the district attorney’s office brought in a Hollywood public relations firm to handle the expected crush of media inquiries — a move criticized by the Jackson camp and others as unseemly.

Jackson rose to fame as a child star and member of the Jackson 5, later embarking on a solo career that made him an entertainment icon. His 1982 album “Thriller” is one of the best-selling records of all time.

But Jackson’s popularity began to wane amid abuse allegations a decade ago. Jackson thwarted Sneddon, escaped prosecution and settled out of court with the accuser’s family for a reported $15 million to $20 million. The boy refused to testify, and no charges were ever brought. Jackson later wrote a song attacking Sneddon.

In the month since Jackson’s arrest in the current case, questions have been raised about the credibility of the boy’s family.

In a leaked confidential memo, Los Angeles County child welfare investigators who looked into the case last February said they found no improper behavior on Jackson’s part. According to the memo, the boy, his mother and siblings praised Jackson and said no abuse occurred.

D.A. questions child welfare investigation

Sneddon characterized that effort as an interview rather than an investigation, and he said the child welfare office had problems.

“LA is a big place. They have a lot of problems down there and that office has a lot of problems. Anyone who lives there knows that,” Sneddon said.

Geragos accused Sneddon of being “dismissive” of the child welfare investigators.

The boy’s family also filed a lawsuit claiming that the boy, his brother and mother were beaten by mall security guards in 1998 after the boy left a Southern California J.C. Penney store carrying clothes that had not been paid for. The lawsuit also alleged the mother was sexually assaulted. The family received a $137,500 settlement.

In addition, the boy’s father pleaded no contest to child cruelty in 2002 and spousal abuse in 2001. The couple are now divorced.

Russell Halpern, an attorney for the father, has said the boy’s mother had a “Svengali-like ability” to make her children lie in testimony.

In a press release after the charges were filed, Sneddon stated that the child will be on the stand if the case goes to trial.

“The (child’s) mother is getting trashed in the media. Is she credible like you insist?” he wrote. “Yes, she is credible.”

Jackson and the boy met two years ago through comedy club owner Jamie Masada, who had asked the pop star to cheer up the young cancer victim. At the time, the boy had been given three weeks to live. His spleen and one of his kidneys had been removed because of stomach cancer.

The boy’s current medical condition is unclear. Masada has said his remaining kidney is failing, while Halpern has said the boy is in good condition. The boy’s mother has declined to speak to the media.

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