Michael Jackson accuser described 'detailed markings' on popstar's genitalia
Warning: This article contains discussion of child sex abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Netflix’s brand new documentary about Michael Jackson, which focuses heavily on his infamous 2005 trial, has led to many viewers rediscovering bizarre details about the allegations against him.
Jackson was accused of sexually abusing multiple children, with a PR executive claiming in Netflix’s Michael Jackson: The Verdict to have found a horrifying magazine which MJ used to order videos of naked children, and a chef who worked on his Neverland ranch even saying he had seen Jackson putting his hands in Macaulay Culkin’s pants when he was a child.
Despite this testimony several came forward to defend MJ, including Culkin and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe, and he was found not guilty.
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Many however question the allegations around him to this day, with the posthumous documentary Leaving Neverland seeing an accuser come forward who had actually previously defended him in court.
When re-examining the evidence there is one particularly shocking detail mentioned in the documentary that came to light in court – that one of his accusers were able to described ‘detailed markings’ on MJ’s genitalia.
12 years before Jackson’s trial covered in The Verdict, Jackson was first accused of sexually abusing a child.
A year prior in 1992 Jackson had befriend Jordan Chandler, a 13-year-old fan of his music, after meeting his dad.
In August of 1993 the Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation into Jackson after allegations he was molested by the popstar, having described incidents involving kissing, masturbation, and oral sex.
In December of that year it was ordered that Jackson be strip-searched to compare his body to descriptions made by Chandler, with the now 14-year-old having been able to draw specific markings on his body, specifically his penis.
This incident prompted the ‘King of Pop’ to release a statement decrying the decision to strip search him, stating that he was innocent.
Jordan eventually withdrew from the case
He later made a $22 million out of court settlement with the Chandler family, but did not admit wrongdoing.
Jordan’s mother, June Chandler, testified in the 2005 trial that she had not spoken to her son in 11 years and his father Evan Chandler committed suicide in 2009.
Rosibel Ferrufino-Smith, who spoke in the Netflix documentary, said: “The details he was giving in the room, to me and the other officers, there was no way he could have made this up.”
She also confirmed that investigators had compared the sketches of Jackson’s body provided by Chandler, stating that they were accurate.
Michael Jackson’s accusers
Jordan Chandler
Jackson befriended Chandler in 1992 after the owner of a car rental business offered his services for free if Jackson called his 13-year-old stepson.
Chandler and his mother June would go on to make several visits to Jackson’s Neverland ranch, and accompanied the singer to Las Vegas, Morocco and Paris, where the star would often share a room with the teenager.
In 1993, Chandler described being molested by Jackson to a child psychologist, who reported the allegations to the police.
A grand jury declined to criminally indict Jackson the following year after Chandler refused to testify against him.
Chandler’s family went on to sue the singer for $30 million, alleging sexual battery, battery, fraud and negligence. Jackson settled the lawsuit for $22 million.
Chandler has lived a private life since the lawsuit and has rarely been seen since
Gavin Arvizo
Arvizo met Jackson when he was 10 in 2000. He was a cancer patient who was a fan of Jackson’s music, and the singer sent him a gift basket while he was recovering from an operation to remove his spleen and left kidney.
Jackson later visited him and invited him to stay at the Neverland Ranch in 2000.
In 2002, Arvizo was asked to participate in ITV documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which focused on Jackson’s infamous sleepovers with children at Neverland.
Months after the documentary aired the following year, Jackson was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit child abduction and four counts of lewd acts upon a child.
The singer’s 2005 trial is the subject of Netflix’s Michael Jackson: The Verdict. Arvizo, then 13, told the court that Jackson had shown him pornography, offered him wine and molested him twice. His mother Janet claimed the singer held them captive at Neverland.
Jackson’s legal team called high-profile witnesses such as Macaulay Culkin to defend Jackson’s character and questioned the Chandlers’ credibility.
Jackson was acquitted of all charges.
Little is known of Arvizo’s life since the trial. The latest we’ve heard was a family friend telling The Wrap in 2019 that Arvizo was considering law school.
Wade Robson
Robson met Jackson at just five years old after winning a Michael Jackson dance impersonation competition in 1987. He went on to spend time with the singer at the Neverland ranch.
He testified in defence of the singer in both the 1993 investigation following Jordan Chandler’s claims and the 2005 criminal trial concerning Arvizo’s allegations.
As an adult, Robson had become a successful choreographer working with Britney Spears and NSYNC and was married and welcomed a son in 2010, which he has said inspired him to come forward with his abuse allegations against Jackson years after the singer’s death.
In 2013, Robson filed a lawsuit against Jackson’s production companies claiming the star sexually molested him for seven years, since he was seven years old. The lawsuit was rejected by a judge who said he’d waited too long to file the suit.
In 2019, he took part in the 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
Nowadays, Robson is a life mentor, with a specific focus on teen dancers. After his civil suit against Jackson was revived in 2023, he and fellow accuser James Safechuck are pursuing $400 million in damages against Jackson's corporate entities.
James Safechuck
Safechuck met Jackson aged nine in 1986, when the pair starred alongside each other in a Pepsi ad. Following this, Jackson is said to have started buying the boy expensive gifts and flying him around for visits and holidays.
Safechuck provided a witness statement defending Jackson in the 1993 investigation against him.
In 2013, Safechuck filed a lawsuit claiming Jackson abused him on ‘hundreds’ of occasions between 1988 and 1992, when he was between the ages of 10 and 14. The lawsuit was rejected because a judge claimed Safechuck had waited too long to file it.
Safechuck also appeared in Leaving Neverland in 2019.
Now, Safechuck is VP of technology and innovation at AvatarLabs, a digital creative agency that has worked on The Avengers and Game of Thrones.
He runs a podcast with Robson, in which the pair interview trauma survivors, and is married with children.
His civil suit against Jackson’s corporate entities was revived in 2023 and remains ongoing.
Topics: TV and Film, TV, Documentaries, Michael Jackson, Crime
Michael Slavin