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Ex-maid describes boys gone wild at Neverland
Ex-maid calls Neverland 'Pinocchio's Pleasure Island'
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
A former Neverland maid testified on Thursday that Michael Jackson has had relationships with several boys during the last decade at his Los Olivos ranch.
Kiki Fournier named nine boys ranging in age from 10 to 14. They included actor Macaulay Culkin; the boy who has accused the entertainer of molestation; and another boy who made similar allegations in 1993. Mr. Jackson spent extra time with these children to the exclusion of others, she said.
"They usually got assigned somewhere to sleep, but a lot of them would stay with Mr. Jackson," Ms. Fournier testified.
"Did you notice any behavior changes in the children?" asked Senior Deputy District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss.
"Yes, their behavior did change," Ms. Fournier responded. "They had free rein and got to be very wild and sometimes destructive."
Ms. Fournier worked at Neverland Valley Ranch from 1991 to September 2003. She said she nicknamed the ranch "Pinocchio's Pleasure Island" because some children were out of control during their stay. She left the job to spend more time with her children and attend school, she said.
The prosecution wants jurors to believe that Mr. Jackson primed his accuser for molestation in the spring of 2003 by plying him with alcohol and letting him roam the ranch. The defense is trying to show jurors that the boy and his brother were hellions who drank alcohol and looked at girlie magazines on their own while Mr. Jackson was absent.
Ms. Fournier testified that she twice saw Mr. Jackson with children who appeared to be intoxicated. But she never saw the entertainer give alcohol to children, she said.
Although Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville allowed the prosecutor to question Ms. Fournier about Mr. Jackson's relationships with children from the past, the judge has not ruled if evidence from the 1993 investigation will be allowed into this trial. Mr. Jackson was not charged in the earlier case.
Lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau said he planned to file a motion challenging the prosecution's introduction of the names of the children from the past.
Under cross-examination by Mr. Mesereau, Ms. Fournier criticized parents who did not supervise their children at Neverland and said that Mr. Jackson often was gone when children misbehaved.
Her testimony contradicted earlier statements made by the accuser and his siblings. She said it appeared that the boys at one time were sleeping in a guest unit at the ranch, not in Mr. Jackson's bed. She also said that their mother frequently ate meals in the main house and was not held captive as the family has charged.
She testified she told sheriff's deputies that "to be confined at Neverland is ridiculous . . . (you) can just walk out."
Ms. Fournier told the defense lawyer that the boys were out of control during the last couple of weeks they spent at the ranch in early 2003. She said that the boys' room in the guest unit was a mess and that they weren't satisfied with dinner offerings and demanded something different.
Under cross-examination, she testified that Mr. Jackson's special relationships with children included a closeness with their parents and siblings, many of whom also visited the ranch.
Mr. Jackson, dressed in a burgundy suit with a gold armband and a forest green shirt suitable for St. Patrick's Day, frequently conferred with his attorneys. In a gesture toward Deputy Leslie Avila, the court bailiff, Mr. Jackson had one of his security guards bring her three bags of Werther's Original candy to replace the handfuls of candy and cough drops he takes from her dish each morning.
Jurors will not be present today while the judge considers motions about the 1993 case and whether grand jurors can be subpoenaed. Mr. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to child molestation, administering alcohol to a minor to commit a felony and conspiracy.
Also on Thursday, the 12th day of testimony, Los Angeles weatherman and stand-up comic Fritz Coleman described how he met the family of the accuser at the Laugh Factory during a summer comedy camp and then later assisted in raising money for the boy. At the time, the boy was being teated for cancer.
Law enforcement officers also testified Thursday about the adult material they seized at Mr. Jackson's ranch during a raid in November 2003.
Judge Melville is expected to hear testimony next week from witnesses in the 1993 case, which crumbled when the young accuser's family accepted a multimillion-dollar settlement from Mr. Jackson in a simultaneous civil suit.
The prosecution is expected to try to show that Mr. Jackson has a pattern of criminal behavior with adolescent boys. But the defense will likely attack the credibility of those witnesses and contend that their client is an easy mark for those out for money.
Dawn Hobbs is also a news analyst for NBC and MSNBC. Her email is dhobbs@newspress.com
CASE FILE
IN COURT: A former housekeeper at Neverland Valley Ranch told jurors that young children often ran wild at the estate.
WHAT'S NEXT: Judge Rodney Melville is expected to hear motions today without the jury present.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "With the absence of an authority figure, these children became wild, and without their parents there this became like Pinocchio's Pleasure Island." -- Kiki Fournier
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
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