2008 – Michael Jackson refinanced his Neverland ranch to save it from being auctioned off, after being told that if he failed to pay $25m (£12.5m) he owed on the California property, it would be auctioned within a week. Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 intending to create a fantasy land for children naming it after an island in the story Peter Pan, where children never grow up.
2005 – Pop superstar Michael Jackson is found not guilty on all counts of his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, Calif. Jackson, 46, had been charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in 2003, serving him wine and conspiring to hold the boy and his family hostage at his Neverland estate in order to get them to rebut a television documentary.
2005 – A Neverland Ranch security guard testifies that he saw Michael Jackson perform oral sex on a young boy in the 1990s. The witness appeared at the King of Pop’s child molestation trial in Santa Maria, Calif.
2005 – The younger brother of Michael Jackson’s accuser testifies that he twice saw the King of Pop fondle his sibling at the Neverland Ranch. Jackson is on trial in Santa Maria, Calif., on child molestation charges.
2003 – Prosecutors in Santa Barbara, Calif., charge Michael Jackson with nine felony counts involving the alleged abuse of a teenage boy at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The pop star is charged with seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child under age 14 between Feb. 7 and March 10 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent with the intent of committing a felony.
2003 – Michael Jackson announces he will open his Neverland Ranch for one day only in December. Lucky invitees will have to pay $5000 to see where the King of Pop’s baboons frolic.
1993 – Lawyers for a 13-year-old boy file a civil suit against Michael Jackson for seduction and sexual abuse. On December 22, Jackson responds to the allegations via satellite from his Neverland compound: “I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.” On January 25, 1994, he settles out of court with his accuser for an undisclosed sum, estimated at $20 million.
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