Aust 'victim' seeks Michael Jackson riches
Peter Mitchell
April 6, 2015, 4:31 pm
Wade Robson. Source: AAP
Australian choreographer Wade Robson could learn this week in a Los Angeles court if he can pursue a slice of Michael Jackson's $US1.5 billion ($A2.0 billion) estate.
Robson, once the late King of Pop's staunchest defender, now claims Jackson was a predator who repeatedly sexually abused him as a child.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff has scheduled a hearing for Robson and another of Jackson's alleged child victims, James Safechuck, on Tuesday that could decide if their respective claims proceed.
Robson and Safechuck missed a statutory deadline when they filed their claims more than a year after Jackson's 2009 death.
If Judge Beckloff gives Robson, 32, and Safechuck, 36, a green light to proceed, new child molestation allegations will likely be revealed in court against Jackson.
According to the New York Post, lawyers say the King of Pop paid nearly $US200 million to as many as 20 victims.
Safechuck, who says he met Jackson when he was eight and was molested a year later, claims in court filings Jackson held a secret wedding ceremony and a young Safechuck was his bride.
Safechuck alleges the singer gave him a marriage certificate and a wedding band as keepsakes and confirmation of their "undying love".
Robson was a five-year-old dance prodigy in Brisbane when he first met Jackson and had been one of the pop star's biggest supporters, including testifying under oath at Jackson's 2005 molestation trial in California he was never abused by Jackson.
Robson was a key reason for Jackson's acquittal.
Robson now says he "lived in silence and denial for 22 years" and alleges he was seven years old when Jackson first molested him.
A former Jackson maid, Blanca Francia, is expected to testify she walked in on the singer showering with and groping the then nine-year-old Robson and saw Jackson and Robson while they were semi-nude in bed together, the Post reports.
Robson, a choreographer for Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, says he has been unable to work because of the pain caused by Jackson's abuse.
