Jacksons rally around Michael
(cnn.com)
Updated: 2003-11-23 16:14

Jermaine Jackson said Friday that he will request a state and federal investigation into the authorities who are working on the child-molestation case against his younger brother, pop star Michael Jackson.

He defended his brother in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters.

"He's not a criminal," Jermaine Jackson told Walters. "He's been innocent since day one, he's not a child molester, he's not a pedophile, and these things have got to stop.

"You got a bunch of racist, I'm sorry, racist rednecks out there who don't care about people.

"We are a family, my mother is very angry, we are all angry, and we're going to put our soldiers and generals together and prepare for war, that's what this is."

Jackson, 45, surrendered to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department Thursday to face allegations of child molestation.

After he was booked, surrendered his passport and was released, Jackson returned to Las Vegas, where his father has a house.

Earlier Friday, Demetrius Brown, the chairman and CEO of CMX Sports and Entertainment, told CNN that Jackson had recorded an interview with one of the network television stations but would not confirm which one.

Brown also said that Jackson's family would be part of the interview but would not say who would take part. It's unclear whether Jermaine Jackson's interview is the one to which Brown referred.

CBS announced Wednesday that "given the gravity of the charges" against Jackson, it was postponing a program scheduled to be broadcast November 26 that was to be tied to his album "Number Ones," released this week.

In a passionate telephone conversation with CNN on Thursday, Jermaine Jackson expressed outrage over recent commentary about the allegations, comparing it to "a modern-day lynching" of a man whose life has been "about peace."

He said he and his family support Michael "one thousand percent" because they believe he is innocent, and that he himself was furious.

"I am sick and tired of people speaking on my brother's behalf, and my family's behalf, who do not know us," he said. "So you put these people on national television or international television saying these things." 

The Jackson family also plans a tour to promote the album of Michael Jackson's No. 1 hits, Brown said.

"The Jackson family has regrouped and have formed a very close supporting cast for Michael, and it's business as usual for them," Brown said.

Stuart Backerman, Jackson's spokesman, issued a written statement after his arrest, calling the charges an "outrage."

"The big lie against Michael Jackson is anchored in the most vicious allegation imaginable, one that resonates across every culture: the spectacle of harming a child," Backerman said. "That spectacle invites outrage, and it should. But this spectacle is rooted in a lie."

The charges were filed under a California law that prohibits "lewd and lascivious" acts with a child under 14, Santa Barbara County officials said.

Authorities have released no details about the accuser or when the incidents were alleged to have occurred.

In 1993, Jackson was sued by the family of an alleged victim of child molestation.

Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon was unable to pursue criminal charges because the accuser, who reached an out-of-court financial settlement with Jackson, decided not to testify.

Family friend Rick James told CNN that he believes authorities were pursuing Jackson "because he's black, he's rich and he's famous, and they've got nothing else better to do."

Sneddon told Court TV on Thursday that he is not pursuing a personal vendetta against Jackson.

"Anybody who thinks I've spent 10 years waiting to do something to Michael Jackson has not got a clue," he said. "To think it's for political reasons is total poppycock. I'm not running for re-election, I'm retiring in three years.

"It is a serious case, it deserves serious discretion to be used," Sneddon said. "The sheriff and I have committed we're going to handle it like any other case to the extent we can. No special treatment one way or the other, and that's the way we view it."

Michael Jackson has hired celebrity attorney Mark Geragos to defend him.

Geragos is involved in another high-profile California case as the defense lawyer for Scott Peterson, accused of murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn son.

Formal charges won't be filed against Jackson until after Thanksgiving, Sneddon's office said.

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

A conviction on a single count of child molestation can carry a prison sentence of up to eight years. Authorities have also called on the public to come forward with any information that may point to other possible victims.

Jackson's 2,600-acre Neverland ranch was searched for more than 13 hours Tuesday in connection with the investigation, as were two unidentified sites in Southern California.

Complaint questions Jackson's role as father

Attorney Gloria Allred filed a formal complaint with the Santa Barbara County Department of Child Welfare Services on Friday to request an investigation into the welfare of the singer's three children.

"I believe that the children should be temporarily removed from Mr. Jackson's care and custody because of the history of Michael Jackson with children and his statements that I have outlined, combined with the present criminal allegations," Allred said at a news conference at her law office in Los Angeles, California.

Allred has filed two similar complaints with the same department in the past year against Jackson. She referred to a February interview broadcast in Britain in which Jackson discussed sleeping with various children in his bed.

Allred also cited the incident last year in Germany in which Jackson dangled his infant son over the fourth floor balcony of a hotel as fans screamed below.

Representatives of the Department of Child Welfare Services would not say if any action would be taken on Allred's complaint.

It said complaints made by non-family members are considered individually on the merits of each case.

Jackson, 45, has two children with his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe -- Prince Michael, 6, and Paris, 5. Little is known about Jackson's youngest son, Prince Michael II, who is believed to be about 2 and was born to another woman.

The children are believed to be with Jackson in Las Vegas.

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