Posted on 05/06/2005 3:21:16 PM PDT by Jean S
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Two mothers testified at Michael Jackson's trial Friday that they trusted Jackson enough to let their sons sleep in his bed and were convinced that no molestation ever occurred.
"I've known Michael for a long time. I've spent many hours talking to him about everything. I feel like he's a member of my family. I trust him. I trust him with my children," said Joy Robson, whose 22-year-old son, Wade Robson, testified earlier that he was never molested by Jackson.
Also praising Jackson was Marie Lisbeth Barnes, whose son, Brett Barnes, testified that nothing improper happened when he shared Jackson's bed.
"I trusted him implicitly," she said of Jackson. "He's a very nice person. You just know when you can trust someone."
Robson was critical of the mother of a boy who accused Jackson of molestation in 1993 and received a multimillion-dollar settlement from the singer. Robson said she had been at Jackson's Neverland Ranch with the boy and his mother but spoke to them only a few times.
"My impression of (the mother) is she wanted to be mistress of Neverland," she said. "She would order the staff around like she owned it. My impression of (her) is she was a gold-digger."
Under cross-examination, District Attorney Tom Sneddon then asked whether Robson was jealous of the woman "because she replaced you."
"Absolutely not," the witness replied.
Sneddon also suggested that Robson ingratiated herself with Jackson because she thought he could help her son get into show business. Robson denied that.
Robson's daughter, Chantal Robson, testified that she slept in Jackson's room with her brother four times as a child. She said she saw Jackson hug children and kiss them on the cheek, but she never saw anything of a sexual nature.
Barnes, who is from Melbourne, Australia, said she and her family got to know Jackson after her son wrote him a letter. She said she allowed her son to travel around the world with Jackson on a tour because she believed it would be a learning experience.
Brett Barnes' sister, Karlee Barnes, testified that Jackson had flown her and her family from Australia to testify at the trial and they were staying at Neverland.
Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, giving him wine and conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive so they would rebut a damaging documentary in which Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed.
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Associated Press Writer Tim Molloy contributed to this report.
AP-ES-05-06-05 1805EDT
It's better to stay silent and let people think you are a fool than speaking and removing all doubt....
DOH!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I guess it was worth the money and the percs for the parents. If MJ had been a poor man, it's very doubtful that the moms would have thought it was okay.
bump
BLEEECH.
These women need to have their heads examined, as my mother used to say.
I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let any of my children SLEEP ALONE with some MALE ADULT PERSON, EVER. OR FEMALE ADULT PERSON. It just would not happen.
Are these stupid women trying to actually make themselves look good?
I nominate this thread for headline of the day!
The mother's should be on trial too.
Why weren't child services called on them??
These mothers need to be slapped for stupidity.
BTW: These witnesses who are there to say "He didn't touch me," are--in effect--saying, "I SAW HIM NOT DO IT!"
That doesn't work.
Too bad Zonen couldn't repeat his mastery by showing these "trusting" mothers the same pornographic books, (some depicting sodomy) that Robson looked at yesterday. Let's hear them tell us again how much they trusted their sons to sleep with MJ.
Bump.
"None of them thought there was anything weird about a man in his 30s and 40s insisting on sleeping with children? And mostly male children?"
Exactly. Nothing will come of this though, that's my gut feeling. Parading a bunch of former 'sleep overs', mostly young boys, sleeping with a man in his 40's to testify that his behavior was normal is ludicrous in itself.
You're probably right, because the prosecution witnesses have been somewhat disgusting, and all of them have had their hands out for money.
Is Jackson a pedophile? Well, I don't think either you or I would let a child sleep in his bed, no matter what the financial seduction. A grown man should not be insisting on sleeping with young boys, it's that simple. And to build an amusement park with a zoo and all those enticements is rather strange, to put it mildly.
Hey, the first one got that $20 million 'Jack'pot in 1991, but of course no mom thought of that when she let her little boy sleep with Michael afterwards.
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