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Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said bail would be set at $3 million. He said the entertainer has been asked to surrender his passport.
Officials said they are giving Jackson a specific period of time to turn himself in, but they would not say what that deadline was.

"We encourage Mr. Jackson to turn himself in and cooperate with law enforcement authorities," Anderson said.

Asked whether investigators believe Jackson is a flight risk, Anderson said, "There's always that possibility but I believe he's willing to cooperate and turn over his passport at this point."

On Tuesday, investigators from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office executed a search warrant at Jackson's ranch, known as Neverland. Anderson said searches were conducted at two other locations in Southern California simultaneously but would not reveal those locations.

Between 60 and 70 investigators conducted a 14-hour search at the Neverland Ranch as part of an ongoing investigation. Jackson, 45, was not at home. A Jackson spokesman said Tuesday the pop star was in Las Vegas, shooting a new music video.

Anderson said investigators were looking for "items of evidence that would corroborate the victim's allegations."

The warrant was for violation of a California law that prohibits lewd or lascivious acts with a child under age 14. A conviction carries three to eight years in prison on each count.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said an affidavit outlining details of the case will be sealed for 45 days. He would not reveal how many charges Jackson faces.

D.A.: Child Is Willing to Testify

Authorities did not reveal the age or gender of Jackson's alleged victim. Brian Oxman, an attorney who has represented Jackson family members in the past, said Tuesday the alleged victim was a 12- or 13-year-old boy.

Asked if authorities believed there could be other victims, Anderson said, "There is that possibility and we would encourage the public to come forward" if they had any information.

A decade ago, the "King of Pop" became embroiled in a scandal when a 13-year-old boy accused him of molestation. No charges were ever filed. Jackson ultimately reached a financial settlement with the alleged victim's family — reportedly for millions of dollars.

Jackson has always denied the allegations and said he reached a settlement with the boy's family because he did not want a drawn-out legal battle and he wanted to put the matter behind him.

Sneddon said authorities were not able to pursue charges in the 1993 case because the civil suit was settled before a criminal case could be filed and the alleged victim was not cooperating. He said the alleged victim in the current case is willing to testify.

"There is no civil case filed and there is no anticipation a civil case will be filed," Sneddon said.

The search came as Epic Records on Tuesday released Number Ones, a greatest-hits collection featuring Jackson's No. 1 hit songs and his new single, "One More Chance." In a statement Tuesday, Jackson suggested that the search at Neverland coincided with the album's release and allegations always seem to surface when he releases new music or embarks on a new project.

"These characters always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an album, a video, is being released," he said in the statement.

However, Anderson and Sneddon denied Jackson's suggestion.

"Like the sheriff and I are really into that kind of music," Sneddon said. "We had no knowledge of his album prior to executing the search. This has nothing to do with his album or anything else he is doing in his life." Jackson first rocketed to stardom as a child as the lead singer of The Jackson Five with his brothers and the success he enjoyed with albums had such Thriller, Bad and Dangerous made him an international superstar.

However, Jackson's career has never recovered from the scandal over the 1993 molestation allegations. His record sales on subsequent albums have dwindled, and he has generated more headlines with his bizarre behavior and alleged cosmetic surgery than with his music.

Jackson was married briefly to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis. A three-year marriage to his dermatology nurse, Debbie Rowe, followed, and she bore him two children, Prince Michael I and Paris. Jackson had a third child, Prince Michael II, by another, unidentified woman in 2002, and he stirred outrage when he dangled the baby from the balcony of a Berlin hotel last November. Jackson denied purposely endangering his child, and authorities decided not to pursue charges.

All three children live with Jackson. They all appeared in British journalist Martin Bashir's documentary Living With Michael Jackson, but wore veils and masks to conceal their faces.

Jackson raised eyebrows during that documentary earlier this year when he told Bashir that he has allowed other people's children to sleep in his bed at Neverland Ranch.

When asked whether Jackson's children would be taken out his custody, Anderson and Sneddon said they would leave that matter to California's Department of Child Welfare Services.