Neverland Ranch: Video of '03 Raid on Michael Jackson's Home Is As Creepy As You Thought
In 2003, pop luminary Michael Jackson was arrested and later acquitted on felony charges of child molestation and for giving intoxicants to a minor. Thirteen years later, evidence used in that trial has begun to come to light, including video of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Department raid of Jackson's home in 2003.
Filled to the brim with dolls, toys and games, it gives an eerie glimpse into the life Jackson built for himself in the years before his death in 2009.
The video, shared by Radar Online, shows officers searching the house room by room. They pass several play rooms filled with dolls, train sets, life-sized mannequins of Super Man and Laura Croft Tomb Raider, arcade games and a juke box, which hid a secret door.
In one secret closet hidden in Jackson's bedroom, investigators found photos of celebrity children, including Macaulay Culkin, stuffed animals, games and pornographic photos.
A close-up of the Culkin photo has the message written across its face: "Don't leave me alone in the house."
Documents shared Monday by Radar Online detail more of the items found in that raid. Jackson had reportedly amassed a large collection of pornography, including photos of nude children, animal torture and gore.
Former Santa Barbara Senior Assistant District Attorney Ron Zonen told Radar that child molesters often use this type of material as part of a "grooming process" to lower the inhibitions of victims.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department later confirmed the documents being partially "copies of reports" authored by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and partially information gathered from unknown sources.
Jackson's estate has denied the veracity of all the evidence found. "Everything in these reports, including what the County of Santa Barbara calls 'content that appears to be obtained off the Internet or through unknown sources' is false," a representative for the estate told Vanity Fair.
Watch the full video at Radar Online here.
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