Michael Jackson: It's still OK to sleep with boys

A month after being arrested for multiple, sexual child molestation charges, pop star Michael Jackson continues to sing the same tune: It's OK to sleep with boys.

Michael Jackson's mug shot

In his first interview since his Nov. 20 booking at which he posted a $3 million bond and was released, Jackson told CBS News' "60 Minutes" anchor Ed Bradley he sees no harm in sharing his bed with children.

"Why not? If you're going to be a pedophile, if you're going to be Jack the Ripper, if you're going to be a murderer, it's not a good idea. That I am not," he said, according to a preview of the segment set for broadcast Sunday night.

The superstar first prominently professed his advocacy for sleeping with boys in a television documentary broadcast earlier this year.

"It's what the whole world should do," Jackson told interviewer Martin Bashir on the Granada television program, "Living With Michael Jackson," according to a London Times account. Granada is one of the largest independent television companies in the United Kingdom.

Although he claimed only "very few" boys had actually stayed in his bed, Jackson strongly defended the practice, saying: "Why can't you share your bed? The most loving thing to do, is to share your bed with someone."

During that Feb. 3 interview, Jackson admitted he had recently encouraged a 12-year-old cancer patient to sleep in his bedroom.

The boy, named Gavin, said he met Jackson two years ago, and began sleeping overnight at the superstar's Neverland ranch with his brother and sister.

On one occasion, reported the Times, Gavin asked to sleep in Jackson's bedroom: "I was like, 'Michael, you can sleep in the bed,' and he was like 'no, no, you sleep on the bed,' and I was like 'no, no, no, you sleep on the bed' and then he said 'look if you love me you'll sleep in the bed.' I was like, 'Oh man.' So I finally slept on the bed. But it was fun that night."

At the time, both Jackson and the cancer patient claimed no sexual contact occurred during the sleepovers.

Michael Jackson led into booking in handcuffs.

Jackson turned himself in to Santa Barbara County law-enforcement authorities following an extensive police search of his California ranch. The warrant, which is based on allegations brought by a 12-year-old Los Angeles boy, details a violation of Section 288(a) of the California Penal Code – which prohibits lewd or lascivious acts with a child under age 14.

The television program "Celebrity Justice" said a therapist reported disclosures by the boy, who spent time at Neverland and began therapy several months ago.

Fox News reported the boy who made the allegations was a cancer patient whose "last wish" was to meet Jackson at a time that his friends and family feared his illness was worsening. According to Fox, the boy may have confessed to his therapist that the pop singer plied him with wine and sleeping pills when he allegedly molested him.

Tom Sneddon, Santa Barbara County district attorney, stressed the differences between the current case and a similar investigation in 1993 involving Jackson, which ended when the singer paid the alleged victim between $25 million and $40 million to settle out of court.

In the '93 case, Sneddon said, no arrest warrant was issued.

In addition, there was a civil case filed in '93 concurrent with the criminal probe, which is not the case in this investigation.

Another difference, Sneddon said, was that authorities have "a cooperative victim in these particular proceedings," as opposed to the alleged victim in 1993. That boy decided not to testify against Jackson.

In his "60 Minutes" interview Jackson vehemently denies the current charges.

"Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists," he told Bradley.

But a former estate manager at Neverland Ranch begs to differ, as WorldNetDaily reported. Mariano Quindoy claims the entertainer is a "gay pedophile" who often lured boys aged 7 to 12 into his room to engage them in "gay sex."

Quindoy was lined up by prosecutors to testify in the 1993 molestation case.

Jackson is scheduled for arraignment Jan. 9 in Santa Barbara Superior Court.

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