Michael Jackson indicted in California

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) — Michael Jackson was indicted Wednesday by a California grand jury investigating child-molestation accusations against the pop star, major U.S. television networks reported, citing unnamed sources.

A Santa Barbara County court spokesman told Reuters he could not confirm that Jackson had been indicted by the grand jury, which has met for several weeks in Santa Barbara.

The proceedings have been conducted by Santa Barbara County district attorney Tom Sneddon under extraordinary secrecy, and a spokeswoman for Sneddon could not be reached late Wednesday for comment.

Mark Geragos, the lead attorney for Jackson, who is bound by a strict gag order in the case, declined to comment beyond a written statement posted on a website for the self-proclaimed “King of Pop.”

That statement, which was attributed to Jackson’s lawyers, said that “if the grand jury issues an indictment,” the 45-year-old entertainer would plead innocent at a previously scheduled April 30 court hearing.

“Mr. Jackson and his attorneys are confident that after a trial on these charges, Mr. Jackson will be fully exonerated and that the allegations contained in the indictment will be shown to be patently false,” the statement said.

“Michael is looking forward to his day in court and wishes to thank the millions of fans throughout the world who continue to support him during this difficult period.”

Santa Barbara prosecutors presented evidence to the grand jury in connection with accusations that Jackson sexually molested a young boy, who was seen in a British documentary filmed partly at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the hills above Santa Barbara.

Because of the secrecy surrounding the grand jury, few details of the testimony have been made public.

Jackson was charged in December with seven counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of plying the boy with alcohol in order to seduce him. He has pleaded innocent and called the charges a “big lie.”

An indictment would supersede the previous charges and allow Sneddon to proceed directly to trial without having a public preliminary hearing on the evidence.

Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who is presiding over the case, has said he would like to have a trial in the matter begin by December.

Los Angeles police have said that they are investigating claims by a man that Jackson molested him in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, Jackson paid an undisclosed amount to the family of a young boy to settle a molestation case out of court.