- (AFP) -- Michael Jackson says he was mistreated during
his recent arrest on child molestation charges, and that the police search
of his Neverland ranch so violated his privacy that he will never live
there again.
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- In his first interview since his arrest -- broadcast
Sunday on the CBS network -- Jackson also vehemently denied all the charges,
while still insisting that he saw nothing wrong in sharing his bed with
a child.
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- Describing his surrender to the authorities last month,
Jackson said he was "manhandled very roughly" by police whom
he accused of deliberately handcuffing him in a vicious way, hurting his
wrists, arms and back.
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- "My shoulder is dislocated, literally. It's hurting
me very badly. I'm in pain all the time," he said. "Now I can't
move. It keeps me from sleeping at night."
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- He also accused police of locking him in a feces-smeared
rest room and taunting him.
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- "There was doo doo, feces thrown all over the walls,
the floor, the ceiling. And it stunk so bad," he said.
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- "The one of the policemen came by the window. And
he made a sarcastic remark. He said, 'Smell -- does it smell good enough
for you in there? How do you like the smell? And I just simply said, 'It's
alright. It's okay.' So I just sat there and waited."
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- During the interview which was taped on Christmas Day
in a Los Angeles hotel room, Jackson appeared wary and strained, and on
several occasions the questioning was interrupted by his lawyer whose voice
could be heard off-screen.
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- "What time is it?" Jackson said at one point,
breaking off from the interview to talk to an assistant. "I'm hurting.
I don't feel good."
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- Jackson, 45, is charged with seven counts of molesting
a boy under the age of 14 and two counts of plying him with alcohol beforehand.
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- Each of the child molestation charges carries a jail
sentence of between three and eight years on conviction, while those of
administering an intoxicating agent to a minor carry a maximum sentence
of three years each.
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- Currently free on three million dollars bail, Jackson
is due to appear in court on January 16 for an arraignment at which he
could enter a plea.
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- During the police search of his ranch for evidence, Jackson
said his bedroom had been "totally trashed" and that the police
had cut open his mattress with knives.
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- "I won't live there ever again," he said. "It's
a house now. It's not a home anymore. I'll only visit."
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- Denying all the charges of molestation, Jackson said
he would rather slit his own wrists than harm a child.
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- "I would never hurt a child. It's totally false.
I was outraged," Jackson said. "When I see children, I see the
face of God."
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- But asked if, in his current circumstances, he thought
it was acceptable to share his bed with children, Jackson replied: "Of
course. Why not?
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- "If you're going to be a pedophile, if you're going
to be Jack the Ripper, if you're going to be a murderer, it's not a good
idea. That, I am not," he said.
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- "What's wrong with sharing your bed? I didn't say
I slept in the bed. Even if I did sleep in the bed, it's okay. I am not
doing anything sexual to a child," he said, adding that when he was
a minor he had shared beds with an adult "many times."
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- During the interview, Jackson, who has children of his
own, was asked whether he would allow them to share a bed with someone
who had been accused of the same charges levelled against the singer.
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- "If I knew the person personally, absolutely yes.
Absolutely, I wouldn't have a problem with it," he replied.
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- Jackson's lawyer and other members of his entourage have
rounded on the family of his young accuser, saying the allegations are
part of an extortion attempt and motivated by "greed and revenge."
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- In the interview, Jackson said he did not blame the youngster
involved, arguing that he had been manipulated by his parents.
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- "Somewhere greed got in there and somebody - I -
I can't quite say. But it has to do with money," he said. "It's
Michael Jackson. Look what we have here. We can get money out of this ...
That's exactly what happened."
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- At the end of the interview, Jackson thanked his fans
for their support.
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