My dad, Michael – Allegedly the interview mother got $4,000 to give

[b]Feb 8, 2003[/b] Daily Mail [UK – London] By: David Gardner [b]My dad, Michael[/b] [i]Cancer boy”s mother tells how he looks upon Jackson as his father and wants to travel the world with him[/i] The mother of the 12-year-old cancer sufferer who shares Michael Jackson’s bed has revealed how the boy thinks of the singer as his father and even calls him Daddy. As it emerged last night that Jackson will face a police investigation into his behaviour, Janet Arvizo said she was perfectly comfortable with her son Gavin and her two other children staying at the star’s Neverland ranch. She hopes Jackson will include the children in his entourage when he travels around the world. “Michael has brought something special into our lives,” Mrs Arvizo told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview. “He has pet names for all of my children and Gavin even calls him Daddy. He is the father they never had. He is a saint to them.” Gavin, who was given only two weeks to live when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer two years ago, tells his mother: “I am living for my Daddy, Michael.” The family has suffered so much hardship that it is perhaps not surprising that they see Jackson as a guardian angel. Struggling to scrape together enough welfare cash to feed and clothe Gavin, his 11-year-old brother Star and sister Davelin, 16, Mrs Arvizo was once so poor that she was forced to take the children to live in a stable. Courtesy of Jackson, they now have a car, numerous other gifts and live in a small but comfortable flat. Mrs Arvizo, 34, is clearly doing all she can to encourage the connection with their celebrity friend. “The children are hoping to spend a lot more time with him in the future,” she said. “It is not just Gavin – all of my kids have stayed over with Michael. They have spent a lot of quality time with him on their own. “Sometimes they stay overnight. I am totally comfortable with that. They are happy with him and have a lot of fun. I don’t need to be there all the time. I am not worried about Michael at all. He has been so good to all of us.” Her voice brimming with excitement, Mrs Arvizo added: “So far, they have only been with him at Neverland, but they are hoping to travel the world with him. That is what he has told them will happen. It’s a dream come true for them. He is their angel.” “Whenever they feel sad, Michael sends them a card and invites them over to see him. They really look forward to that.” The revelations about Jackson’s relationship with Gavin were one of the main talking points from Martin Bashir’s documentary about the singer, which was screened to 15 million viewers by ITV on Monday. Many have since questioned the motivation of a man sleeping with children who are not related to him and last night a criminal investigation was launched into the documentary’s revelations. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said: “It is anticipated that it (a videotape of the programme) will be reviewed. The conduct of any adult under these circumstances sleeping with a child is certainly calculated to raise concerns and be considered by most reasonable people as unusual, at best. For this reason, all local departments having responsibility in this are taking this matter seriously.” Before meeting 44-year-old Jackson two years ago, Gavin was unquestionably at the very lowest point in his difficult upbringing in a rundown district of Los Angeles. While Jackson would not blink at spending millions in a morning shopping spree on Beverly Hills” Rodeo Drive, just a few miles away Gavin’s mother was struggling to keep the family together. Preoccupied with her daily struggle for survival, Mrs Arvizo had paid no attention to the child molesting allegations ten years earlier that resulted in Jackson paying pounds 10 million to settle a civil suit brought by Jordy Chandler, his 13-year-old alleged victim. It was not that she knew nothing of abusive men. Friends say she was forced to take out a restraining order against her husband, David, 36, claiming he abused her and the children. Trying to bring up the youngsters alone, she constantly struggled to find a decent home. “They were living in a stable with the hay and horses in Bakersfield, California, for a long time,” said family friend Jamie Masada. “I went to visit them another time to see just how bad things were and they were all living in a tiny room in Compton that wasn’t even big enough for one person to live in.” “They couldn’t afford to buy clothes or food. It was heartbreaking to see people living like that in Los Angeles. It made me cry.” “It is hard to believe there could be this kind of poverty in a country like America.” Ironically, it was Gavin’s battle with kidney cancer that turned his life around. The first two occasions his mother took him to a community hospital complaining of stomach pains, he was turned away because he did not have insurance. On the insistence of Mr Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory comedy club, Mrs Arvizo took Gavin back again. Doctors found a tumour the size of a football. Surgeons at Kaiser Hospital in Los Angeles operated to remove the cancer and were forced to take out one of Gavin’s kidneys and his spleen. Exhausting chemotherapy sessions made all his hair fall out and sapped his spirit. All the time, the medical bills were mounting. Gavin, Star and Davelin had earlier attended a comedy camp that Mr Masada holds each summer for underprivileged children. He kept in touch with the family and, after Gavin became ill, asked the boy for a wish-list of the celebrities he wanted to meet. After Adam Sandler, a comedian who appears on the American show Saturday Night Live, and Chris Tucker, from the Rush Hour movies, the third name on the list was Jackson’s. “Gavin said he”d seen him dance on TV and wanted to meet him,” said Mr Masada. “It was like meeting these people was giving him something to live for. I contacted Quincy Jones who talked to Michael and he came to the club but Gavin wasn’t there. Then Michael spoke to Gavin on the telephone and called him a couple more times before he asked him if he wanted to visit Neverland.” “Gavin and his brother, Star, went to Neverland and they stayed for two days. Janet would drop them off and pick them up after the weekend. No matter what people may say about Michael Jackson, he came in and helped this boy to survive. That’s the most important thing to me. Gavin said Michael was like a kid. They had fun and played games. Gavin is not a naive kid. He would have said something if something bad had happened.” Mrs Arvizo’s ex-husband refused to comment on his son’s relationship with Jackson. He lives in an eastern suburb of Los Angeles with his mother, Marleen, who said: “He has not been able to see Gavin for about a year. I don’t even know where they are living now.” [i](found by indy researcher ‘TSColdMan’)[/i]