** NOTE: This post contains graphic language and content that some readers might find offensive. **
Late megastar Michael Jackson had a collection of pornography, erotic artwork and other X-rated imagery at his California Neverland Ranch in 2003, according to a Radar Online report.
The cache was discovered when police officers searched the property in November 2003 as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Jackson had inappropriate interactions with children.
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Radar Online presents the findings in the form of reports written by members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
SEE THE REPORTS (Warning: GRAPHIC)
The police reports claim that at least seven collections of artwork found in the ranch show teenage boys — in some cases younger — partially clothed or completely nude.
One of the collections is described in court papers as “Nude photos of teenage boys from late 1800s.”
(It should be noted that a lot of antique art, and artwork in general, features nude bodies, so it is impossible to determine that Jackson had pedophilic tendencies based on books found at the ranch. Similarly, it’s not known how the discovered pornography came to be in Jackson’s possession.)
Police also searched a rented storage locker (paid for by the Jackson estate) after Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Detective Craig Bonner requested a warrant. Investigators were led to the locker by witnesses who said items were moved there once the ranch was under investigation.
The locker reportedly contained photos and videos depicting animal torture and sacrifice, child nudity, torture and female bondage. The Radar Online report does not include visual evidence of these findings.
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Some of the books and videos detailed in the reports were also featured in court papers at the time, which were submitted after Jackson was accused of sexually assaulting Gavin Arvizo, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, on multiple occasions.
Jackson was charged with child molestation and two counts of giving an intoxicant to a minor in 2003, but was acquitted of all charges in 2005 after a 14-month trial.
In 1993, similar charges were brought against the singer by the father of a 13-year-old “friend” of Jackson, Jordan Chandler. A year later, Jackson reached a financial settlement with the boy and his father; the settlement agreement specifically stated that Jackson admitted no wrongdoing and no liability, and legally, it couldn’t be used in future cases against him.
The settlement payment was “for alleged personal injuries arising out of claims of negligence and not for claims of intentional or wrong acts of sexual molestation.”
In 2015, some lawyers claimed that Jackson had paid upwards of $200 million to silence as many as 20 alleged “victims.”
On Tuesday, filmmaker J.J. Abrams revealed he’s adapting a book about Jackson for TV with its co-author, TV and radio host Tavis Smiley. Written by Smiley and David Ritz, the TV show is described as “a novelistic take on the pop star’s final months.”
Jackson died in 2009 after suffering a heart attack due to an overdose of pain medications and sedatives.
With a file from The Associated Press
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