Pop superstar Michael Jackson, charged last month with sexually molesting a 13-year-old boy who suffers from cancer, portrayed himself as a victim in a nationally televised interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" anchor Ed Bradley.

Taking a page from "domestic diva" Martha Stewart's public relations manual the entertainer appealed to the American public in an apparent effort to solicit sympathy.

Michael Jackson's mug shot

"What was going through your mind when you're taken into a police station, in handcuffs, to have a mug shot taken, that you know is gonna be shown around the world?" asked Bradley, according to CBS' transcript of the interview.

"They did it to try and belittle me, to try and to take away my pride. But I went through the whole system with them. And at the end, I – I wanted the public to know that I was OK, even though I was hurting," Jackson replied.

Jackson called the Santa Barbara district attorney's allegations that he used alcohol to seduce the boy who was staying at his Neverland Ranch and molested him "totally false."

"Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists. I would never hurt a child. It's totally false. I was outraged. I could never do something like that," Jackson said in the interview taped Christmas Day and slated for broadcast tonight.

Jackson said his accuser is among thousands of children he's invited to his 2,600-acre ranch to play in his amusement park, visit his zoo, watch movies, play video games and feast on their favorite foods.

His mission, he says, was to provide healing.

"To give him a chance to have a life, you know? Because he was told he was going to die. They told him. They told his ... his parents prepare for his funeral. That's how bad it was. And I put him on a program. I've helped many children doing this. I put him on a mental program."

The CBS report reveals the accuser is the same boy who appeared in a British documentary in February, during which the superstar first prominently professed his advocacy for sleeping with boys.

"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.

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 the Feb. 3 interview, Jackson admitted he had recently encouraged the then-12-year-old cancer patient to sleep in his bedroom. The boy said he met Jackson two years prior, and began sleeping overnight at Neverland with his brother and sister.

On one occasion, reported the Times, the boy 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 boy claimed no sexual contact occurred during the sleepovers.

CBS reports the British documentary prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which interviewed the boy and his mother to determine whether he had been sexually molested by Jackson. Investigators concluded allegations of neglect and sexual abuse were unfounded.

Over the next several months, however, relations between the boy’s family and Jackson deteriorated, reports CBS. Citing sources close to the family, the boy’s mother had suspicions Jackson was serving alcohol to her 13-year-old son, who was still suffering from cancer. She took her suspicions to the district attorney who opened a full-scale investigation with the cooperation of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff.

As many as 70 law-enforcement personnel swarmed the grounds of Neverland Nov. 18, executing a search warrant. Jackson called the search an invasion of his privacy and claims the officers destroyed his property.

"My room is a complete wreck," Jackson told Bradley. "My workers told me. They said, 'Michael, don't go in your room.' They were crying on the phone, my employees. They said, 'If you saw your room, you would cry.' I have stairs that go up to my bed. And they said, 'You can't even get up the stairs. The room is totally trashed.' And they had 80 policemen in this room, 80 policemen in one bedroom. That's really overdoing it. They took knives, and cut open my mattresses with knives. C– just cut everything open."

After an arrest warrant was issued for him, Jackson surrendered himself Nov. 20. He was charged with seven counts of sexual molestation and two counts of using an "intoxicating agent." He posted a $3 million bond and was released.

The King of Pop claims deputies "manhandled him" by putting handcuffs on his hands too tightly behind his back.

Michael Jackson led into booking in handcuffs.

"They manhandled me very roughly. My shoulder is dislocated, literally. It's hurting me very badly. I'm in pain all the time. This is, see this arm? This is as far as I can reach it. Same with this side over here," he said.

Jackson also told Bradley officers locked him in a feces-covered bathroom for nearly an hour.

"I asked to use the restroom. And they said, 'Sure, it's right around the corner there.' Once I went in the restroom, they locked me in there for like 45 minutes. There was doo doo, feces thrown all over the walls, the floor, the ceiling. And it stunk so bad. Then one of the policemen came by the window. And he made a sarcastic remark. He said, 'Smell – does it smell good enough for you in there? How do you like the smell? Is it good?' And I just simply said, 'It's alright. It's okay.' So, I just sat there, and waited."

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson and district attorney Tom Sneddon declined to be interviewed by CBS. Sneddon stated Jackson was treated fairly while in custody.

In one of the few instances in which Bradley challenged the entertainer, he asked: "You had helped him with his cancer… why would he turn around and say, 'Michael Jackson sexually molested me,' if it weren't true?"

Jackson blamed "greed" on the part of the boy's parents and accused them of seeking money. In 1993, the singer paid a boy who came forward with similar allegations between $25 million and $40 million to settle out of court.

"Parents have power over children. They feel they have to do what their parents say. But the love of money is the root of all evil. And this is a sweet child. And to see him turn like this, this isn't him. This is not him."

Rounding out the segment, Jackson again asserted it was acceptable to share his bed with children.

"Why not? If you're gonna be a pedophile, if you're gonna be Jack, the Ripper, if you're gonna be a murderer, it's not a good idea. That I'm not," he said.

That prompted this exchange, according to the transcript:

Bradley: Would you allow your children to sleep in the bed with a grown man, who was not a relative, or to sleep in the bedroom?

Jackson: Sure, if I know that person, trust them, and love them. That's happened many times with me when I was little.

Bradley: Would you, as a parent, allow your children to sleep in the same bedroom with someone, who has the suspicions and allegations that have been made against you, and about you today? Would you allow that?

Jackson: Someone–

Bradley: If you knew someone, who had the same–

Jackson: I'm not–

Bradley: –kind of allegations–

Jackson: Ed, I– I know exactly what you're saying.

Bradley: –that were made against you–would you let your children–

Jackson: My children?

Bradley: –sleep in that man's bedroom?

Jackson: Mmm, if I–if I knew the person personally. Cause I know how the press is, and how people can twist the truth. If I knew the person personally, absolutely yes. Absolutely. I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Jackson is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 9 in Santa Barbara Superior Court.

Previous articles:

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

Jackson 'gay pedophile,' says ex-estate manager

DA has enough evidence
'to nail Jackson'

Michael Jackson booked, released

Jackson secretly hosting 3 Norwegian teen-agers?

Jackson scheduled for arrest today

Arrest warrant issued for Jackson

Cops search Michael Jackson's ranch

Boy's bombshell: Michael Jackson had sex with me

Michael Jackson confesses: I sleep with boys

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