Day: January 3, 2005

Did Jackson Accuser’s Mom Falsely Solicit Aid for Son’s Treatments? January 3, 2005 :camera VIDEO: Celebrity Justice Even as embattled pop star Michael Jackson continues to offer words of appreciation for the support of his fans, “Celebrity Justice” has exclusively learned that the mother of the boy accusing Jackson of child molestation also went looking for support — but in a very different way. In 2000, when Jackson first met his accuser, an article appeared about the boy and his family in Mid Valley News, a community newspaper in the town of El Monte, just outside of Los Angeles. The story was an emotional appeal, detailing the boy’s illness, the toll his treatment was taking on the family, and asking for readers’ financial charity. “Our car has been repossessed” the mother was quoted as saying. “One chemotherapy injection costs more than $12,000.” Now, Connie Keenan, the editor of Mid Valley News, speaking exclusively to “CJ,” has characterized the accuser’s mother in a most uncharitable manner. “My gut level: she’s a shark. She was after money,” Keenan told us. “My readers were used. My staff was used. It’s sickening.” In 2000, Keenan told us, the boy’s mother approached the Mid Valley news and pitched her story: “She pleaded her case that her son needed all sorts of medical care and they had no financial means to provide it.” Keenan agreed to run the heartfelt story inviting readers to help, but recalled that, almost from the get go, there were red flags, including the fact that, according to Keenan, the mother, “Wanted the money sent to her in her name, at her home address.” And that was just the beginning. Keenan assigned the story to reporter Christie Causer, who was so moved by what she heard that, on Thanksgiving Day, she brought food to the family — but, according to Keenan, “The mother, instead of being grateful that this woman brought her a complete Thanksgiving dinner, said ‘I’d rather have the money. This is nice, but I’d rather have the money.'”