Memo: Jackson Cleared of Charge Earlier

DenverChief · 03:39 PM

10 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Child welfare investigators earlier this year found there was no basis for allegations that Michael Jackson (news) had abused the boy now accusing him of molestation, according to a confidential memo.

The memo from an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was based on an investigation last February and was leaked to the Web site thesmokinggun.com, which posted it Tuesday. A source familiar with the document confirmed its authenticity to The Associated Press

The memo was dated Nov. 26, 2003 — a week after the Santa Barbara County district attorney announced child molestation allegations against Jackson

Both the boy and his brother told investigators Jackson had not sexually abused them, according to the memo. Their older sister said she had never witnessed anything sexually inappropriate between her brothers and the entertainer

The memo was sent from a regional administrator to bureau chief Charles Sophy and detailed a probe completed before Sophy joined the agency.

Jackson's defense is certain to seize on the memo.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

The memo, which refers to Jackson as "the entertainer," said the department began a 13-day inquiry after a Los Angeles school district official called its hot line Feb. 14 out of concern for the boy and his brother.

The investigation was conducted with the Los Angeles police. The school official suspected neglect by the boy's mother and sexual abuse by Jackson, according to the memo.

But the department and the police concluded the allegations were "unfounded," the document said. Louise Grasmehr, a spokeswoman for the child welfare department, said the leak would probably be investigated because the memo was supposed to be confidential under state laws designed to protect children.

Police spokeswoman Officer Sandra Escalante had no comment. The school official called the hot line after the child, a cancer patient who had visited Jackson at his Neverland Ranch, appeared in a TV documentary in which the boy told an interviewer he had been a guest for sleepovers at Neverland.

In the documentary, Jackson defended his habit of letting children sleep in his bed as "sweet" and non-sexual. The boy's mother told investigators in February that "she believed the media had taken everything out of context," the memo said.

The mother said that the children were never left alone with Jackson and that her son slept in the same room with Jackson but never shared his bed. She said Jackson would sleep on the floor.

Separately, the mother contacted an attorney around the time the documentary aired, saying she thought her son had been abused. Jackson was booked Nov. 20 on suspicion of child molestation. He has denied the allegations and was released on $3 million bail. Authorities said they expect to file formal charges next week.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=3...ichael_Jackson

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/dcfsmemo2.html

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 03:31 PM

DECEMBER 9--A confidential investigation by Los Angeles police and child welfare officials concluded earlier this year that allegations Michael Jackson sexually abused a cancer-stricken boy were "unfounded," according to an internal government memo obtained by The Smoking Gun.

The probe's findings were based, in large part, on interviews with the alleged victim, his two siblings, and the boy's mother. According to the memo, when the child was questioned in February by a social worker assigned to the Sensitive Case Unit of L.A.'s Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), he "denied any form of sexual abuse" by Jackson and said that he never "slept in the same bed as the entertainer." While not specifically named in the DCFS memo, the 45-year-old Jackson is referred to repeatedly as "the entertainer."

The memo notes that the boy, now 14, and his 12-year-old brother--who also denied sexual abuse--expressed "a fondness for the entertainer and stated they enjoyed visiting his home, where they would often ride in the park, play video games, and watch movies." The pair's sister, now 17, told a social worker that she accompanied the boys on "sleepovers at the entertainers home," but had "never seen anything sexually inappropriate between her brothers and the entertainer."

The children's mother told investigators that Jackson was "like a father to the children and a part of her family." While acknowledging that her son "has slept in the same room as the entertainer," the woman claimed "they did not share a bed. The entertainer would sleep on the floor," according to the November 26 memo.

The joint probe by DCFS and the Los Angeles Police Department ran from February 14-27 and, the memo states, the "investigation by the Sensitive Case Unit concluded the allegations of neglect and sexual abuse to be unfounded both by the LAPD-Wilshire Division and the Department."

When an investigation is closed, child welfare officials can summarize their findings in one of three ways. If evidence is found to support abuse charges, the case is marked "substantiated." A case is termed "not substantiated" when evidence discovered is not sufficient to support allegations (though the charges may, in fact, be true). Finally, a matter is branded "unfounded" when officials determine there is no merit to the allegations.

As with many DCFS investigations, the Jackson abuse case began with a call to the agency's child abuse hotline. According to the memo, a "Child Abuse Referral" was phoned in on February 14 by a "school official" from the Los Angeles Unified School District, which oversees the city's sprawling public school system. Citing the prior week's ABC broadcast of "Living with Michael Jackson," the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, the school official lodged allegations of "general neglect by mother and sexual abuse by 'an entertainer,'" according to the summary memo. The school official identified both the cancer patient, then 13, and his younger brother as the "referred children."

While the school official is not further identified in the DCFS memo, published reports have indicated that the older boy was taunted by classmates after the documentary aired on ABC's "20/20" newsmagazine. During the February 6 program, the child was seen holding hands with Jackson and resting his head against the singer's shoulder. Jackson told Bashir that he had slept with many children unrelated to him, but insisted, "It's not sexual, we're going to sleep. I tuck them in...It's very charming, it's very sweet."

In a clear reference to fallout from the Bashir documentary, the boy's mother told investigators that "she believed the media had taken everything out of context," according to the memo, which summarizes the DCFS child abuse investigation. The "sensitive case" memo was prepared at the direction of Dr. Charles Sophy, a high-ranking DCFS official who joined the department in late-March, a month after the Jackson probe was completed. The memo was authored by Jennifer Hottenroth, a DCFS assistant regional administrator. In a brief telephone interview yesterday morning, Hottenroth declined to speak about her memo, saying, "I can't talk about it...I can refer you to our public affairs person. I can't comment on any of this." Sophy (pictured at right) did not return a message left with his assistant. Louise Grasmehr, a DCFS spokesperson, said that while she had been given a copy of the document by Hottenroth Monday morning, "We cannot comment on anything that is stated in the memo. Because it's all protected under confidentiality laws in California."

The boy's February 2003 interview with child abuse investigators--not to mention those with his family--appears to run counter to allegations he later made to law enforcement officials in Santa Barbara, where Jackson was arrested November 20 and released on $3 million bail. District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has said that he expects to file felony child molestation charges against Jackson next week. In addition to the boy's original denial of sexual abuse by Jackson, his younger brother's February 2003 statements also appear to contradict recent published reports claiming that the child has told Santa Barbara investigators that he witnessed his brother being molested by the star

While it is unclear what, if any, effect the LAPD-DCFS investigation will have on a future Jackson prosecution, the performer's defense team will surely seize on the February 2003 probe's findings to question the current veracity and motives of the child and his family--and, of course, further muddy a case that already promises to be a difficult prosecution.

The child abuse investigation was immediately placed with the Sensitive Case Unit since department guidelines dictate that if "one of the clients in the referral is a public figure" or if the case's allegations "would be certain to generate media interest if they became known outside of DCFS," the matter requires utmost secrecy.

As with most DCFS abuse cases, a children's social worker (CSW) was dispatched to interview the boys, as was a LAPD investigator (the memo does not indicate whether the cop and the social worker conducted their interviews in tandem). In either case, it is likely that the children were questioned apart from their mother, since the abuse referral included allegations of neglect on the woman's part, according to a DCFS source familiar with agency operations.

The allegations examined this year in the LAPD-DCFS probe mirror sex abuse claims that surfaced in 1993, when a 13-year-old California boy claimed that the pop star molested him. Jackson, who was not charged in that case, reportedly made a multimillion dollar payment to settle a civil suit brought by the child and his family. Click here to read the boy's sworn declaration describing Jackson's alleged abuse.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/dcfsmemo1.html

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 03:47 PM

Citizens of California meet your next lawsuit

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 04:14 PM

If the shoe fits

**Rausch** · 12-09-2003, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenverChief

If the shoe fits

Yeah, right. This reads like BS to me....

But then, don't all kids refer to "friends" who just happen to be some of the most famous people on earth as "the entertainer?"

:meme smiley:

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

Yeah, right. This reads like BS to me....

But then, don't all kids refer to "friends" who just happen to be some of the most famous people on earth as "the entertainer?"

:meme smiley:

Quote:

A confidential investigation by Los Angeles police and child welfare officials concluded earlier this year that allegations Michael Jackson sexually abused a cancer-stricken boy were "unfounded," according to an internal government memo obtained by The Smoking Gun

Quote:

Finally, a matter is branded "unfounded" when officials determine there is no merit to the allegations.

Quote:

The child abuse investigation was immediately placed with the Sensitive Case Unit since department guidelines dictate that if "one of the clients in the referral is a public figure" or if the case's allegations "would be certain to generate media interest if they became known outside of DCFS," the matter requires utmost secrecy.

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 04:30 PM

**Rausch** · 12-09-2003, 04:33 PM

"child welfare officials"

I trust these people as far as I can throw them. If they're even half as good as the one's here in Jeff, which I doubt, I'm not impressed in the least.

I know for a fact of two cases here, in a small town:

A)Family services visited the home and decided the family was fit to take care of their 5 children. 4 of which where later found to me sexually molested and the father sent away for 10 years.

B) Family services inspected the home of a couple, found crack pipes, and decided that drug use was not not enough evidence to remove the children from the home.

But I'm sure in a smaller town like LA they're more effecient in their searches and evaluations.....

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

"child welfare officials"

I trust these people as far as I can throw them. If they're even half as good as the one's here in Jeff, which I doubt, I'm not impressed in the least.

I know for a fact of two cases here, in a small town:

A)Family services visited the home and decided the family was fit to take care of their 5 children. 4 of which where later found to me sexually molested and the father sent away for 10 years.

B) Family services inspected the home of a couple, found crack pipes, and decided that drug use was not not enough evidence to remove the children from the home.

But I'm sure in a smaller town like LA they're more effecient in their searches and evaluations.....

2 examples does not a rule make....I'm sure those people lost thier jobs and in such a nice neighborhood like the Wilshire neighborhood I bet they get all the good stuff unlike a crappy little missouri town

**Rausch** · 12-09-2003, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenverChief

2 examples does not a rule make....I'm sure those people lost thier jobs and in such a nice neighborhood like the Wilshire neighborhood I bet they get all the good stuff unlike a crappy little missouri town

I bet they do....

BIG_DADDY · 12-09-2003, 04:53 PM

I didn't realize that DC was such a huge MJ fan.

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG_DADDY

I didn't realize that DC was such a huge MJ fan.

You know better than that, I'm more for the police not abusing thier powers....just arresting people becasue....

**Rausch** · 12-09-2003, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenverChief

You know better than that, I'm more for the police not abusing thier powers....just arresting people becasue....

Good. You won't mind letting your kids stop by my place for a sleep over then.

DenverChief · 12-09-2003, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rausch

Good. You won't mind letting your kids stop by my place for a sleep over then.

are you saying you have the money and fame Jackson does?

**Rausch** · 12-09-2003, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenverChief

are you saying you have the money and fame Jackson does?

Why?

Does that make it ok to **** your kids?

12-09-2003, 03:19 PM
DenverChief MVP Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Rocky Ford Casino cash: $5699867	DCFS Memo: Jackson Cleared of Charge Earlier 10 minutes ago LOS ANGELES - Child welfare investigators earlier this year found there was no basis for allegations that Michael Jackson (news) had abused the boy now accusing him of molestation, according to a confidential memo. The memo from an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was based on an investigation last February and was leaked to the Web site thesmokinggun.com, which posted it Tuesday. A source familiar with the document confirmed its authenticity to The Associated Press The memo was dated Nov. 26, 2003 — a week after the Santa Barbara County district attorney announced child molestation allegations against Jackson Both the boy and his brother told investigators Jackson had not sexually abused them, according to the memo. Their older sister said she had never witnessed anything sexually inappropriate between her brothers and the entertainer The memo was sent from a regional administrator to bureau chief Charles Sophy and detailed a probe completed before Sophy joined the agency. Jackson's defense is certain to seize on the memo. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. The memo, which refers to Jackson as "the entertainer," said the department began a 13-day inquiry after a Los Angeles school district official called its hot line Feb. 14 out of concern for the boy and his brother. The investigation was conducted with the Los Angeles police. The school official suspected neglect by the boy's mother and sexual abuse by Jackson, according to the memo. But the department and the police concluded the allegations were "unfounded," the document said. Louise Grasmehr, a spokeswoman for the child welfare department, said the leak would probably be investigated because the memo was supposed to be confidential under state laws designed to protect children. Police spokeswoman Officer Sandra Escalante had no comment. The school official called the hot line after the child, a cancer patient who had visited Jackson at his Neverland Ranch, appeared in a TV documentary in which the boy told an interviewer he had been a guest for sleepovers at Neverland. In the documentary, Jackson defended his habit of letting children sleep in his bed as "sweet" and non-sexual. The boy's mother told investigators in February that "she believed the media had taken everything out of context," the memo said. The mother said that the children were never left alone with Jackson and that her son slept in the same room with Jackson but never shared his bed. She said Jackson would sleep on the floor. Separately, the mother contacted an attorney around the time the documentary aired, saying she thought her son had been abused. Jackson was booked Nov. 20 on suspicion of child molestation. He has denied the allegations and was released on $3 million bail. Authorities said they expect to file formal charges next week. http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=3...ichael_Jackson http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/dcfsmemo2.html Last edited by DenverChief; 12-09-2003 at 03:39 PM..
Posts: 16,177

12-09-2003, 03:31 PM	#2
DenverChief MVP Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Rocky Ford Casino cash: $5699867	DECEMBER 9--A confidential investigation by Los Angeles police and child welfare officials concluded earlier this year that allegations Michael Jackson sexually abused a cancer-stricken boy were "unfounded," according to an internal government memo obtained by The Smoking Gun. The probe's findings were based, in large part, on interviews with the alleged victim, his two siblings, and the boy's mother. According to the memo, when the child was questioned in February by a social worker assigned to the Sensitive Case Unit of L.A.'s Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), he "denied any form of sexual abuse" by Jackson and said that he never "slept in the same bed as the entertainer." While not specifically named in the DCFS memo, the 45-year-old Jackson is referred to repeatedly as "the entertainer." The memo notes that the boy, now 14, and his 12-year-old brother--who also denied sexual abuse--expressed "a fondness for the entertainer and stated they enjoyed visiting his home, where they would often ride in the park, play video games, and watch movies." The pair's sister, now 17, told a social worker that she accompanied the boys on "sleepovers at the entertainers home," but had "never seen anything sexually inappropriate between her brothers and the entertainer." The children's mother told investigators that Jackson was "like a father to the children and a part of her family." While acknowledging that her son "has slept in the same room as the entertainer," the woman claimed "they did not share a bed. The entertainer would sleep on the floor," according to the November 26 memo. The joint probe by DCFS and the Los Angeles Police Department ran from February 14-27 and, the memo states, the "investigation by the Sensitive Case Unit concluded the allegations of neglect and sexual abuse to be unfounded both by the LAPD-Wilshire Division and the Department." When an investigation is closed, child welfare officials can summarize their findings in one of three ways. If evidence is found to support abuse charges, the case is marked "substantiated." A case is termed "not substantiated" when evidence discovered is not sufficient to support allegations (though the charges may, in fact, be true). Finally, a matter is branded "unfounded" when officials determine there is no merit to the allegations. As with many DCFS investigations, the Jackson abuse case began with a call to the agency's child abuse hotline. According to the memo, a "Child Abuse Referral" was phoned in on February 14 by a "school official" from the Los Angeles Unified School District, which oversees the city's sprawling public school system. Citing the prior week's ABC broadcast of "Living with Michael Jackson," the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, the school official lodged allegations of "general neglect by mother and sexual abuse by 'an entertainer,'" according to the summary memo. The school official identified both the cancer patient, then 13, and his younger brother as the "referred children." While the school official is not further identified in the DCFS memo, published reports have indicated that the older boy was taunted by classmates after the documentary aired on ABC's "20/20" newsmagazine. During the February 6 program, the child was seen holding hands with Jackson and resting his head against the singer's shoulder. Jackson told Bashir that he had slept with many children unrelated to him, but insisted, "It's not sexual, we're going to sleep. I tuck them in...It's very charming, it's very sweet." In a clear reference to fallout from the Bashir documentary, the boy's mother told investigators that "she believed the media had taken everything out of context," according to the memo, which summarizes the DCFS child abuse investigation. The "sensitive case" memo was prepared at the direction of Dr. Charles Sophy, a high-ranking DCFS official who joined the department in late-March, a month after the Jackson probe was completed. The memo was authored by Jennifer Hottenroth, a DCFS assistant regional administrator. In a brief telephone interview yesterday morning, Hottenroth declined to speak about her memo, saying, "I can't talk about it...I can refer you to our public affairs person. I can't comment on any of this." Sophy (pictured at right) did not return a message left with his assistant. Louise Grasmehr, a DCFS spokesperson, said that while she had been given a copy of the document by Hottenroth Monday morning, "We cannot comment on anything that is stated in the memo. Because it's all protected under confidentiality laws in California." The boy's February 2003 interview with child abuse investigators--not to mention those with his family--appears to run counter to allegations he later made to law enforcement officials in Santa Barbara, where Jackson was arrested November 20 and released on $3 million bail. District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has said that he expects to file felony child molestation charges against Jackson next week. In addition to the boy's original denial of sexual abuse by Jackson, his younger brother's February 2003 statements also appear to contradict recent published reports claiming that the child has told Santa Barbara investigators that he witnessed his brother being molested by the star While it is unclear what, if any, effect the LAPD-DCFS investigation will have on a future Jackson prosecution, the performer's defense team will surely seize on the February 2003 probe's findings to question the current veracity and motives of the child and his family--and, of course, further muddy a case that already promises to be a difficult prosecution. The child abuse investigation was immediately placed with the Sensitive Case Unit since department guidelines dictate that if "one of the clients in the referral is a public figure" or if the case's allegations "would be certain to generate media interest if they became known outside of DCFS," the matter requires utmost secrecy. As with most DCFS abuse cases, a children's social worker (CSW) was dispatched to interview the boys, as was a LAPD investigator (the memo does not indicate whether the cop and the social worker conducted their interviews in tandem). In either case, it is likely that the children were questioned apart from their mother, since the abuse referral included allegations of neglect on the woman's part, according to a DCFS source familiar with agency operations. The allegations examined this year in the LAPD-DCFS probe mirror sex abuse claims that surfaced in 1993, when a 13-year-old California boy claimed that the pop star molested him. Jackson, who was not charged in that case, reportedly made a multimillion dollar payment to settle a civil suit brought by the child and his family. Click here to read the boy's sworn declaration describing Jackson's alleged abuse. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/dcfsmemo1.html
Posts: 16,177

12-09-2003, 03:47 PM	#3
DenverChief MVP Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Rocky Ford Casino cash: $5699867	Citizens of California meet your next lawsuit
Posts: 16,177

12-09-2003, 04:14 PM	#4
DenverChief MVP Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Rocky Ford Casino cash: $5699867	If the shoe fits
Posts: 16,177

12-09-2003, 04:30 PM	#7
DenverChief MVP Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Rocky Ford Casino cash: $5699867
Posts: 16,177

12-09-2003, 04:53 PM	#11
BIG_DADDY THE RED MENACE Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Texas Casino cash: $4968410	I didn't realize that DC was such a huge MJ fan. __________________ The diabolical genius of Marxism-Socialism is that it provides the emotional and intellectual road map for autocrats to persuade millions of people to support their own enslavement to government. ~Mark Levin April 15, 2019
Posts: 32,387