Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson Read Online Free Page A

were ever
brought against Joe, and he never sued Andersen or S&S for libel.
    As serious as these charges are, there were even more explosive accusations that followed.
    At the time of Michael's sham marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, his publicist, Bob Jones, had to deal not only with that make-believe union but with
another story that a newspaper tabloid was set to reveal. A reporter had come
upon charges that Joe also molested Michael when he was a small child. Jones
categorically denied such charges and was able to suppress the story, even
though accusations were aired over late-night talk radio.
    Of course, Jones would have no way of knowing whether these accusations of molestation were true or not. In his book, Michael Jackson: The Man
Behind the Mask, Jones did report on a confrontation he had with Michael.

    He quotes the singer as saying, "How do you know that thing with Joseph
never happened?" A valid question, of course. Not getting a straight answer
from Michael, Jones asked himself a question: "Was he telling me the story
was true? He certainly acted in a manner that wouldn't confirm or deny."
    Jones, who knew Joe Jackson, found the molestation charges "hard to
believe."
    But the rumors persisted. Some pop psychologists in talk shows have
pointed out that child molesters in case studies were often the victims of
molestation in their youths. Like many other episodes in Michael's life, these
molestation charges, including those from La Toya, remain a mystery.
    No sooner had these charges that Joe molested Michael been suppressed
than yet another shocking story emerged. Whether true or not, the Jackson
family could be counted on by tabloids for a scandal du jour. Although much
has been written about the family in "Second Coming headlines," some of the
most explosive stories were never printed.
    Also around the time of his marriage to Lisa Marie, there were allegations
floating around that as a pre-pubescent, Michael was "pimped" to pedophiles
within the record industry as a means of promoting the advance of The
Jackson 5. There is no evidence that this is true but the rumors-some of them
quite convincing-still persist.
    To our knowledge, the only person who tried to sell such a story was a
sleazy record producer we'll call John Stoffer, who worked the Detroit music
industry for some twenty years. He approached the National Enquirer with a
very detailed account of how a nine-year-old Michael was allegedly delivered
to his hotel room in Detroit. His account didn't specify who made the delivery.
    For a fee of ten thousand dollars, Stoffer was willing to tell all. In his
report, he gave a very detailed and specific account of how he'd allegedly
sodomized young Michael. "The boy cried through the ordeal and even bled,"
Stoffer claimed. "But I liked that. You see, I'm quite small down there. I used
to be basically straight, but several women laughed at the size of my organ. I
turned to young boys-very young because I achieved great satisfaction in
penetrating their tight, virgin butts. Michael was no exception. He was real
tight. When I saw the pain I was causing him, it goaded me on and made me
feel like more of a man."
    Although Stoffer offered times, dates, and places that checked out, his
charges could not be proven. The staff at The Enquirer decided not to publish
the scoop, considering it too undocumented for publication. However, Stoffer
did help promote and publicize The Jackson 5 and was instrumental in getting
radio stations to play the group's records. In his dossier, Stoffer said that
Michael was "delivered" to him on three different occasions, and that "each time the boy cried when he was penetrated."

    A member of the Enquirer staff said, "We've published more stories about
Michael Jackson than about any other modern celebrity, enough for our own
book about the star called Freak! But what we've published is only a grain of
sand on the beach. The Enquirer has been