While pop music king Michael Jackson has long been the center of rumors, lawsuits and criminal investigations regarding child sex abuse, a new book by the uncle of a then 12-year-old boy who says he was molested over a period of months by the entertainer is about to provide the nitty-gritty details of the sordid scandal.
"All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-up" by Raymond Chandler is set for release in five days with NBC's "Dateline" ready to broadcast some of the shocking revelations.
The book, obtained by WND, focuses on the 1993 case of Jackson's chance encounter with Jordie Chandler, 12, a rabid fan of the singer.
Jackson took a drive down L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard on a spring day in 1992 and had car trouble, according to the book. Dave Schwartz, Jordie's stepfather and the proprietor of a car-rental shop, dispatched a tow truck and limousine to assist the star. Within 30 minutes, Jordie and his mother, June Chandler-Schwartz, were exchanging greetings and phone numbers with Jackson.
"The encounter at the car rental agency was not the first time Michael and the boy had met," writes Chandler, the boy's uncle who was never bound by any non-disclosure agreements signed by other parties in the multi-million-dollar settlement of the case. "Jordie was little more than a toddler when he and his parents ran into Michael in a restaurant. The star picked him up, said something like, 'Oh, he's so cute,' and put him back down. For Michael, this brief acknowledgement was one among thousands in the day-to-day life of an icon. And little Jordie was too young to know what a superstar was. Neither would remember the event. But for Jordie's mother and stepfather, the thrill may never have worn off."
Ironically, fate would bring them together once again in 1984, when Jackson was in a hospital in L.A. recovering from burns sustained while filming a Pepsi commercial. Jordie's mother, June, wrote a get-well letter on behalf of her son and hand-delivered it to a bodyguard outside Jackson's room. Included in the letter were Jordie's picture and phone number.
The next day, Jackson called June and Jordie, then 5, to thank them. He even invited Jordie to appear in a commercial he was filming. Later, he was invited to attend an L.A. performance.
These encounters may have been partly responsible for young Jordie's enthusiasm for Jackson.
"By age 6, Jordie had memorized the words to half a dozen Jackson songs and taught himself many of the star's dance moves," writes Chandler. "Two weeks before his eighth birthday, Jordie strutted his stuff for his entire family at a shindig back east. No sooner had he hit the dance floor when a circle gathered around the boy, three generations whooping and cheering as he twirled and moon-walked to "The Way You Make Me Feel." Jordie's grandmother was so impressed she went home that evening and knitted him a sequined glove to add to his routine."
So, when Jordie got that chance meeting with Jackson in 1992, he was not just meeting a music superstar – he was meeting his idol.
"To say that Michael already had some influence over the boy is like calling Niagara Falls a leak," writes Jordie's uncle. "Jordie worshipped him, as did millions of children around the globe."
Jackson's "Dangerous" tour was just beginning that spring, so the star was traveling around the world for several months. But Jackson would call Jordie frequently while on the tour. Sometimes the calls would last two to three hours.
"By the time Michael returned in January 1993, he and Jordie were fast buddies, and it wasn't long before the star invited Jordie, his mother and little sister to a fun-filled weekend at Neverland," according to the book. "Michael enjoyed their company so much that he invited them back the following weekend, which included a day trip to Disneyland. By March, one weekend had become every weekend."
By March, Jordie, his mother and sister had begun to accompany Jackson many out-of-town trips.
A month later, while staying at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, June discovered her son's bed had not been slept in.
"Jordie told his mother that after she and Kelly had fallen asleep, Michael asked him if he had seen 'The Exorcist,'" writes Chandler. "When he said no, Michael played it for him. The movie frightened him and he did not want to go back to his room alone, so Michael suggested he stay with him."
Jordie later told his father, child-abuse investigators, psychiatrists, lawyers and others the story of Jackson's seduction of him.
While his mother had suspicions, she was also caught up in the glitzy life Jackson was providing for both her and her son. It was Jordie's father, Evan Chandler, a dentist, who became more concerned about the intimate relationship between Jackson and his son.
Much of the book deals with Chandler's efforts to win custody of his son, battle Jackson's lawyers and private investigators, endure a series of death threats and, ultimately, win back his son and a settlement from the pop star.
As NBC's "Dateline" has already revealed, the Jordie Chandler case was not the first nor the last such case in which Jackson has paid millions – in this case a reported $25 million – to stave off criminal charges of child molestation.
He allegedly paid $2 million to the son of an employee at his Neverland Ranch in 1990, according to the program broadcast last week. The television news magazine did not disclose its source for information about the reported payment.
In that segment, retired Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas, now an NBC news analyst, said his office investigated Jackson in 1993 in connection with one boy's claim and came upon the second accusation.
Jackson has denied ever harming any child and is currently fighting charges he molested a boy in 2003.
Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr. has refused to return calls from news agencies and lawyers in the case are under a gag order.
Thomas told "Dateline," "We always believed there were eight to 10 other children out there."
But during interviews, he said, "Many of them said that they had spent time with Michael Jackson. They had spent time in his bedroom, but that nothing had happened. Some wouldn't talk to us at all."
Thomas told the AP the employee's son did not file charges and didn't want to testify "because he was afraid his friends would think he was homosexual."
Jackson, 45, has pleaded not guilty to committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. His trial is set to start Jan. 31.
"All That Glitters" is not the only book Jackson has to worry about. His longtime public relations man, Bob Jones, whom Jackson fired, is now working with MSNBC analyst Stacy Brown and Dennis Love on a book being shopped New York publishers through agent Laurie Liss of Sterling Lord Literistics.
Jones worked for the Jackson family when he was with Motown in the early '70s, then went to work for the pop king a decade later.
The author of "All That Glitters" is promising to post on his website original documents from the case against Jackson.
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"All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-up"
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