SANTA MARIA, California, July 27 (AFP) - Pop star Michael Jackson built his Neverland ranch, complete with amusement park rides, to abduct, abuse and seduce children, a prosecutor charged Tuesday.
The ranch, which takes its name from the Peter Pan tale, "was designed to entice and attract children. It is an isolated and gated area where Michael Jackson could carry out his plans (of) false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion," said deputy district attorney Gordon Auchincloss, in a hearing in which defense attorneys and prosecutors are debating whether there is enough hard evidence for the case to proceed.
Neverland is "a world of self-indulgence for children", to get the children to sleep with the superstar, Auchincloss said.
In a hearing on Friday Jackson attorneys led by Thomas Mesereau tried to get the judge to drop the charges, which they argue the grand jury handed down without the benefit of evidence.
Mesereau condemned the case against the megastar as absurd and urged the judge to throw it out saying there is evidence the family is trying to get money.
"The case is an effort to take down a major celebrity," Mesereau alleged.
But "there is no way the Grand Jury is misled in indicting Michael Jackson," Auchincloss said. Jackson pleaded not guilty on April 30 to charges that include child molestation and conspiracies to abduct a child, false imprisonment and extortion. He could face a long prison sentence if convicted.
His trial is tentatively scheduled for September 13.
Auchincloss said "there are 28 covert acts that support the conspiracy charges. Michael Jackson had the opportunity and motive to commit the crime."
The prosecutor said the child, identified as John Doe, a cancer victim, "thought Michael Jackson was the coolest guy in the world" while Jackson showered him with gifts.
A documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," was broadcast in February 2003. In it, the star acknowledged having shared his bed with children. "The video was Michael Jackson's downfall. The day after it was broadcast the (Michael Jackson) camp went onto a crisis mode to put out the fire started by the video," Auchincloss said.
"The fact he rationalized his conduct on national TV was his downfall. He ignited a fireball of criticism that made him an object of international loathing and scorn," he added.
Earlier this week, Jackson's team filed a motion to have the indictment thrown out, claiming Prosecutor Tom Sneddon had "bullied" and cajoled witnesses into making groundless allegations before the grand jury that handed down the charges.
They accused Sneddon of "flagrant misconduct" and of flouting the laws of evidence during the hearings in March and April in an "overzealous" bid to prosecute Jackson.
The defense team suggested that Sneddon, who led the failed 1993 investigation into the allegations against Jackson, held a grudge against the superstar.
Jackson, who is charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy at Neverland last year, on June 17 issued a statement saying: "I did not, and would not, ever, harm a child." He spoke out after details of a secret 1993 out-of-court settlement of an earlier child abuse case were leaked to media. Under the deal, Jackson agreed to pay a teenage boy 15.3 million dollars in a civil settlement that led to the collapse of the criminal investigation.