A two-month investigation uncovered no evidence to support allegations that Michael Jackson committed child abuse in the late 1980s in Los Angeles, police said.
The Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation after a man whose name has not been released claimed to have been abused by the pop star as a child.
The allegation was separate from the child molestation case currently under way against Jackson in Santa Barbara County.
"After an extensive investigation, which included hours of interviews with the person making the allegations, detectives concluded there was no evidence that any crime occurred," Los Angeles Police Lieutenant Art Miller said in a statement on Wednesday. "No charges will be sought."
Police did not disclose the nature of the accusations. Legal experts have said the allegations would be difficult to prosecute because of questions about why the accuser did not come forward sooner, and the reliability of any testimony about events from so long ago.
Jackson's attorneys did not return calls for comment on Wednesday.
In other developments, a judge has barred a New Jersey man from displaying or selling Jackson collectibles until the resolution of the singer's lawsuit over the costumes, letters, legal documents and other items.
Henry Vaccaro took the items, which had been in storage in Oxnard, California, as part of a bankruptcy proceeding involving Jackson's parents and his brothers, Tito and Jermaine. He then displayed them on a pay-per-view Web site.
Vaccaro, a construction company owner, said he was awarded the items after years of legal wrangling stemming from a failed business venture that wound up in bankruptcy court.
Some of the items may play a role in Jackson's child molestation case, although it's unclear whether they would be helpful as evidence.
Vaccaro reportedly turned over the underwear and some handwritten notes to prosecutors in Monmouth County, New Jersey, who in turn handed them over to the Santa Barbara prosecutors. Jackson has pleaded not guilty.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing