From CNN.com:

Attorneys for Michael Jackson were today in talks with authorities on how Jackson should be taken into custody after an arrest warrant on multiple counts of child molestation was issued for the pop legend, a spokesman for Jackson said. Bail has been set at $3 million.

Arrest warrant issued for Michael Jackson
Prosecutor: Singer faces multiple counts of child molestation

LOS OLIVOS, California (CNN) --Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Michael Jackson on multiple counts of child molestation, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon said Wednesday.

Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, was searched Tuesday as part of the investigation.

In an interview with Court TV, Sneddon said Jackson was charged with "violations of 288 of the penal code, which is basically child molesting."

Snedden said that authorities had the arrest warrant during the search and were prepared to take him into custody if he had been home.

Jackson's spokesman Stuart Backerman said the singer has been in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the past two-and-a-half weeks, shooting a video for the song "One More Chance." That single is on his "Number Ones" album, a greatest-hits collection released Tuesday by Epic Records.

Detective Tim Gracey with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department Gracey said authorities were working to have Jackson "surrender himself within a specific period of time."

Backerman said he did not know what the investigation was about, and promised Jackson, 45, will "cooperate fully with authorities."

Backerman told CNN Wednesday that Jackson's legal team was in talks with Santa Barbara authorities to arrange for Jackson to be taken into custody.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Santa Barbara police have not asked permission to arrest Jackson in Las Vegas, which they would do if they wanted to arrest him immediately rather than allowing him to return to Santa Barbara and turn himself in.

Attorney Mark Geragos -- who has been representing Scott Peterson in a high-profile California trial -- is a paid consultant on the legal team, but has not been determined to be Jackson's lead attorney, Backerman said.

About 70 officials from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office searched the home for about 13 hours. There was no official word on what they were searching for or may have found.

Jackson's mansion is on a 2,600-acre estate about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Santa Barbara, and features amusement park rides, a petting zoo and statues of children.

According to Backerman, Jackson said: "I've seen lawyers who do not represent me and spokespeople who do not know me speaking for me. These characters always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an album, a video, is being released."

The allegations come almost a decade after Jackson settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy who had slept over at Neverland Ranch when he was 13 and accused Jackson of molesting him. No criminal charges were filed in that case.

Attorney Larry R. Feldman, who represented the alleged victim in the 1993 child molestation lawsuit against Jackson, told CNN on Tuesday that he would "not confirm or deny" that he is representing anyone in a civil or criminal investigation pertaining to Jackson because of possible "violation of attorney-client privilege."

Brian Oxman, an attorney for the Jackson family, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he believes the investigation stems from someone else seeking financial gain from Jackson.

"It is a case of excitement and hysteria because we have the same accusations that we had 10 years ago," he said. "It's like playing the playoffs all over again."

Johnnie Cochran, Jackson's attorney in the case 10 years ago, said it's odd the search warrant was served the day the singer's latest album was released.

"I think it's more than coincidence. I think it was planned," he said on "Larry King Live."

Cochran said he's tried to counsel Jackson "not to ever put yourself in that position" of being alone with young children.

"But that's who Michael Jackson is, he's a very, very naive person in many respects, and there's no question about that. Yeah, he does wear a bull's eye," Cochran said.

Backerman criticized what he called "the malignant horde of media hounds claiming to speak for Michael on this and many other issues.

"A rogues' gallery of hucksters and self-styled 'inside sources' have dominated the airwaves since reports of a search of Neverland broke, speculating, guessing and fabricating information about an investigation they couldn't possibly know about," he said.

Terms of the settlement of the lawsuit -- filed in 1993 and settled in '94 -- were confidential, though the boy's attorney -- Feldman -- said at the time they were happy to resolve the matter.

Cochran said at the time that Jackson maintained his innocence and that the settlement was in no way an admission of guilt.

Criminal investigators stopped pursuing their case after the lawsuit was settled and the young boy -- by then 14 -- made clear he did not want to participate in any prosecution of the singer.

CNN correspondents Frank Buckley and Charles Feldman and producer Stan Wilson contributed to this report.

this is still news?

apparently.

Oops - forgot there was a news & politics forum, should have put this thread there.

(Edited by poohbear's girl at 1:28 pm on Nov. 19, 2003)

His theme song in jail will be...

"You Are Not Alone"

I mean, I'm sure he'll feel at home with all the crotch grabbing and high pitched "woo hoo!"'s.

Maybe, just MAYBE he can score points by teaching his attackers the moonwalk.

(Edited by holeypeacoat at 1:35 pm on Nov. 19, 2003)

oooh and the day after he releases yet another number ones.

ouch.
stupid bastard.
haha

its about time..........

The thought of the day is: could you imagine him in prison?

At least being there will prevent him from any further self-destruction of his facial features.

You can't get plastic surgery in prison.

Considering his alleged history, I'm sure the destruction of his face (among other parts of his person) will continue.

Actually, I'm still not convinced MJ will set foot in an iron cell anytime soon.

well if bail is set at 3 million then one of his fucking bodyguards can pay Jacko's way out. i mean he shits 3 million.

oh...

and Jacko was found on his Backo.

I remember a discussion in one of my classes a few years ago about the possibility of Joe Jackson (daddy) making the 'business decision' to castrate poor young michael when he was hitting his puberty years to keep his voice range. If this theory is correct, this would explain Michael's obsession with little boys, crotch grabbing, and his abnormally high voice. At the same token, if this theory was correct, I would think the beans would have been spilled long ago. Also, doesnt he have kids that were artificially inseminated or something? He's just a wierd fuck basically.

maybe this will somehow lead in some weird way to Jackson finally selling off the rights to the Beatles catalog

maybe if he isnt imprisoned, and the bail + settlements start to add up, that will happen. hell, we should be sending more hot little boys over to neverland.

I thought Sony had already taken control of the majority of it because of his huge advances. "What's that Michael? You need $200 million, sure, but the Beatles catalog is the collatoral."

it was rumored that sony had regained a portion of the rights to the catalog, but these turned out to be just speculations and hopeful wishes. i thought that the time would finally come when "invincible" flopped but apparently jacko still has full control of the catalog, which is a fucking shame.

(Edited by ray davies at 4:54 pm on Nov. 19, 2003)

wow... I never saw this coming!

If Michael Jackson is convicted and goes to prison, he will die. No doubt about it. But what a way to end a career....murdered in jail because you're a pedophile.

There's quite obviously something wrong with the man, which is sad. I tend to want to blame his father (I have never heard that castration rumour), but remember when this all happened ten years ago, and he made the statement saying the police took pictures of his genitals? I mean, if he didn't have genitals I think we would have found that out.

Um, the moral of this story is....See What Happens When You Use The Beatles For Evil?

(Edited by MissSeptember at 5:53 pm on Nov. 19, 2003)

That's what the little boys said.

Oh....snap! Too good in a bad, bad way.

What's that joke? Why does Michael Jackson shop at K-Mart?


Because little boys' pants are half off.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Little Boy Blue.
Little Boy Blue who?
Little boy blew Michael Jackson.

You're about an hour and a half late with each of those Keith.

I was listening to NPR and i heard about another insane plan from MJ himself. apparently he wants to adopt 2 children from every country across this globe. scary part is that he could easily find surrogate parents in each place...

:shivers:

He also made the statement that he was madly in love with Lisa Marie and made out with her on tv to prove it............ but I agree.......castration may be a stretch but such theories do exist.