Raid of Michael Jackson’s ranch reportedly found images of violent porn, animal torture
When authorities raided Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in 2003, they reportedly found images of child and adult pornography, animal torture and S&M.
The news — 13 years after the raid — was reported on Monday by the website Radar Online.
It says the information comes from reports written by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, which reportedly conducted a raid on the ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., while investigating charges of child molestation against Jackson.
Jackson, who died in 2009, faced up to 20 years in prison for felony counts of child molestation and two counts of giving an intoxicant to a minor to seduce him.
At trial, prosecutors portrayed Jackson as a serial pedophile who used the fantastical surroundings of Neverland to lure boys into his bed. He was acquitted in 2005.
Radar does not reveal how it obtained the documents. In a statement to The Kansas City Star, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, said: “The documents with a header titled Sheriff’s Department that contain a case number appear to be Sheriff’s Office documents.
“The photos that are interspersed appear to be some evidentiary photos taken by Sheriff’s investigators and others are clearly obtained from the internet.
“The Sheriff’s Office did not release any of the documents and/or photographs to the media. The Sheriff’s Office released all of its reports and the photographs as part of the required discovery process to the prosecution and the defense.”
Radar portrays Neverland as a “sinister house of horrors” where authorities found porn that involved adults and children, animal torture and S&M, along with “drugs to treat sex addiction, with multiple prescriptions written by a variety of physicians.”
According to one sheriff’s department report, deputies seized “notes, diaries, documents, photographs, audiotapes and videotapes,” and more than 80 video recordings and computer hard drives from Neverland, the Radar report says.
“The documents collected by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department paint a dark and frightening picture of Jackson,” one investigator told Radar.
The “Thriller” singer paid up to $200 million to keep as many as 20 victims quiet, lawyers have since claimed.
This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Raid of Michael Jackson’s ranch reportedly found images of violent porn, animal torture."