Michael Jackson documentary?

[amy56]

Originally Posted by sparklegirl

I think that a lot of people don’t report it until much later because the balance of power is often skewed when dealing with someone famous or indeed an adult against a child. Sometimes the strength to deal with it only comes with time and occasionally after the person has died.

I think the right to raise these things should always be available whether the person is alive or dead. The way they are dealt with will change but an avenue should always exist.

I don’t agree with trial by media I hasten to add.

See more...

I agree with this totally - a victim should always have the right to speak out.

I think you’ve nailed it for me with your last comment though - I think it’s the trial by media that I’m really struggling with, but then I guess with someone as famous as Michael Jackson, then it’s always going to be ‘out there’.

But a documentary just doesn’t feel right to me - I just can’t imagine that if something like this had happened to me, that it would be a camera crew I’d be telling - but I guess these boys, now men, have grown up in a very strange showbiz world, and I can’t begin to comprehend any of it - probably another reason I’m struggling to believe it all.

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by sparklegirl

I think that a lot of people don’t report it until much later because the balance of power is often skewed when dealing with someone famous or indeed an adult against a child. Sometimes the strength to deal with it only comes with time and occasionally after the person has died.

I think the right to raise these things should always be available whether the person is alive or dead...

See more...

So well said.

Originally Posted by sparklegirl

...The way they are dealt with will change but an avenue should always exist.

I don’t agree with trial by media I hasten to add.

See more...

I agree. There needs to be an avenue, but a different one.

It's awful to think they might have been abused.

It's also awful to think of anyone being falsely accused/found guilty. There have been heart-breaking incidents of miscarriages of justice - both by courts and by the public fuelled by the media.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by olgaandcoda

I'm certainly no expert, thankfully on this subject. And no child of mine would be allowed anywhere near an adult man to have a sleep over (close family members are trusted of course)

Jimmy Saville always gave me the creeps, long before anything came out about his abuse. And it seems evident that people allowed him to abuse many people, because he was raising money for their causes. Which makes them as bad as him!

I have sympathy with these children who say they were abused by MJ, but the truth cannot come out when he is not around to defend or deny.
I wasn't implying that because his music was good, that that should make any difference if he was abusing boys. I saw him way before the allegations started. Probably wouldn't have gone along, if they came out before.

It seems MJ was a victim of abuse himself, and I don't understand why he could continue the abuse to another generation. But that's the damage his abuse has caused.

See more...

I work in Offender Management/Safeguarding.

One of the risk assessment criteria is "emotional congruence with children" - and MJ is always used as the reference point.
That doesnt imply that he is guilty - but it is a "risk indicator".

What it means is that the person concerned likes and seeks out the company of chiildren, and has an emotional reliance on their company, other than that of their peers.

close family members are trusted of course
Unfortunately the statistics show that children are MOST at risk from a) siblings and b) close family members.

Unfortunately you cant assume that just because someone is a close family member children are any safer with them then they are with a complete stranger...

There are lots of reasons that children dont mention abuse or deny it when they are children.
The courts are full of old men now being brought to justice over things that happened 10/20/30 years ago - this is because it often takes victims a long time to have the courage to tell their story.

And on a another note it is pointless blaming the parents in these situations - abusers will groom the whole family, not just the kids. Unless - of course - the parents had concerns and ignored them etc.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by macdonald

Yes of course you are right,the parents clearly let them down ,unless they were so naive and genuinely had no clue ...Sad for their children though maybe thinking if its ok with their perents it must be ok

See more...

Parents are generally not naive - they are used as part of the grooming process.

Look at that football coach in the north, and many former scout leaders - they worm their way into the families affections - very skilfully I might add - which then eventually gives them free reign with the kids.

The concern is when parents see or suspect something is going on and THEN do nothing about it.

But often the groomers are soo skillful that the parents dont have a clue...

[macdonald]

Originally Posted by katiec68

Parents are generally not naive - they are used as part of the grooming process.

Look at that football coach in the north, and many former scout leaders - they worm their way into the families affections - very skilfully I might add - which then eventually gives them free reign with the kids.

The concern is when parents see or suspect something is going on and THEN do nothing about it.

But often the groomers are soo skillful that the parents dont have a clue...

See more...

yes true

[3disneykids]

Originally Posted by katiec68

I work in Offender Management/Safeguarding.

One of the risk assessment criteria is "emotional congruence with children" - and MJ is always used as the reference point.
That doesnt imply that he is guilty - but it is a "risk indicator".

What it means is that the person concerned likes and seeks out the company of chiildren, and has an emotional reliance on their company, other than that of their peers.

close family members are trusted of course
Unfortunately the statistics show that children are MOST at risk from a) siblings and b) close family members.

Unfortunately you cant assume that just because someone is a close family member children are any safer with them then they are with a complete stranger...

There are lots of reasons that children dont mention abuse or deny it when they are children.
The courts are full of old men now being brought to justice over things that happened 10/20/30 years ago - this is because it often takes victims a long time to have the courage to tell their story.

And on a another note it is pointless blaming the parents in these situations - abusers will groom the whole family, not just the kids. Unless - of course - the parents had concerns and ignored them etc.

See more...

Very true. I read about the Jo Broberg case and it was crazy how her family let it happen to her. The guy had an affair with both her mum and dad in order to control them. Some people are just really clever at manipulating. I still don't understand how you can let your child be abused or allow them into a situation that is clearly not normal. However there is more awareness and abnormal behaviour like this does stand out as more unusual nowadays.

[ERICSMUM]

Originally Posted by olgaandcoda

I think the parents of these children were very unwise to let them sleep over for an adault man. Regardless of who he was. But of course, they may have seen the potential to make money out of it. It may have been totally innocent of course.
Why bring this all up again after his death. He was obviously not a normal person, not his fault, but he’s not here to defend himself. He stood trial and was acquitted for other cases. Surely you would have come forward then to say you were a victim!
His music will live on, we saw him at Wembley and although not a big fan, the show was amazing. Let him rest in peace, he had little of that in life!

See more...

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

The thing that shocks me most about this situation is how those boys parents allowed their sons to “sleep over”. Did they ever stop to think - why, what etc ?

[Guest]

I am not a MJ fan per se, but I don’t mind his music and if there were one concert I would go to (I have never been to a concert), then I would have liked to have gone to a MJ concert.

I do not and will never know whether he was guilty or anything. But, and I am not even a parent, I cannot imagine letting my child do a sleepover with a grown man (unless he was a trusted relative). To be honest I wouldn’t with a grown woman either, because why would you.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

The thing that shocks me most about this situation is how those boys parents allowed their sons to “sleep over”. Did they ever stop to think - why, what etc ?

See more...

See my posts above.

The parents are often as much victims in these cases as the children.

They are groomed very sophisticatedly (sp?).

Most parents I would think wouldnt even give a second thought to a "sleepover" with a mega star like MJ - I mean - whats the worse that could happen?
Someone like MJ would never abuse kids - would he?

Im not saying whether he did or didnt but unless the parents KNEW or SUSPECTED foul play then they wouldnt be at fault.


We all think our kids are most at risk from "a dirty old peado" etc or a stranger abduction... this could not be further from the truth.,

In my over 10 years in the offender managment role I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of offenders I have dealt with who have either abducted a child to sexually abuse them or a child who has been abused by a so called "dirty old man"!

Im not saying it doesnt happen but they are very rare - which is why they make the headlines.

The majority of victims are very well known to their abusers - either through family/social circles or activites.

[KarenG]

Child abuse is sickening. Whether the parents are complicit, or not, is secondary to what is said to have happened to these children (now adults).

To answer your question Amy, I would never play a Michael Jackson song again, ever.

Any enjoyment I would get from his songs would be tarnished (for me) by what took place. I could not take any joy from those songs.