The Michael Jackson Estate has been sued by four siblings for child trafficking and abuse claims against the late singer.
Siblings Edward, Dominic, Marie-Nicole, and Aldo Cascio filed the shocking complaint Feb. 27. The document alleges that Jackson “groomed and brainwashed” the children for over a decade, using his star power and influence to do so.
The filing further claims that Jackson was a “serial child predator” who drugged and raped the children as he took them to various parts of the world. The filing even asserted that the abuse occurred when Jackson and his own children stayed with the siblings in their family home.
“Michael Jackson was a serial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugged, raped and sexually assaulted each of the plaintiffs, beginning when some were as
young as seven or eight,” the 23-page suit obtained by People states. “The filing alleges that the abuse occurred over extended periods in multiple locations worldwide, including during visits when Jackson and his children stayed at the siblings’ family home.”The Cascio siblings reportedly met Jackson in 1984 when he stayed at a luxury hotel that their father, Dominic, managed. After Jackson allegedly gained their parents’ trust through gifts and attention, the siblings claim that Jackson began to take advantage of them.
However, the Jackson estate has denied the Cascios’ allegations, stating that they “staunchly defended” Jackson, especially during previous claims of child sexual assault against him.
Their legal team even called it a “desperate money grab” off the heels of sibling Frank.
“The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years,
attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct. This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies,” shared the estate’s attorney, Marty Singer.Singer emphasized how the Cascios issued several statements in the past, all denying any wrongdoing by Jackson. However, given the reemerging popularity of the Michael Jackson legacy, especially with his new biopic releasing soon, Singer called out the accusations.
He continued, “With the Estate’s financial success growing, the Cascios, through two different attorneys, threatened to go public with heinous accusations that completely contradicted their previous statements defending Michael unless his Estate paid staggering sums of money.”
According to Rolling Stone, the Cascios filed the complaint amid another legal bout with the estate. They are attempting to void a financial settlement, claiming that the payout seeks to “silence victims of childhood sexual abuse.” A follow-up hearing on the matter remains set for March 5.
The siblings have spoken out in interviews about the alleged abuse, which some claim started as early as age 7. In the filing, all four siblings expressed their own accounts of the abuse, some of which occurred at the residences of Jackson’s famous friends, including U.K. home of Elton John and the Switzerland home of Elizabeth Taylor.
“He would train me to say no to any authority and the police,” Aldo alleged of Jackson. “If anyone asked, ‘Are you doing this?’ you would say no. He would say that people think this is wrong, but they’re wrong. This is real, this is love, but these people think it’s wrong and I
could get into trouble — they’ll want to kill me… he would make me ‘Promise you love me and that you’ll protect me’… And so you felt responsible for helping him in any way.”Jackson died in 2009 from a propofol overdose, leaving the legacy of his career at the hands of his estate. Now, the two parties will engage in a new legal fight as the siblings hope to bring the matter to court.
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