Moms Say They Trusted Jackson

SANTA MARIA, Calif. —  The mothers of two Australian-born men testified Friday that they saw nothing wrong with their young sons spending many nights in Michael Jackson’s bed, and that they found nothing untoward in the boys’ relationships with the pop star.

In the second day of testimony by defense witnesses, Jackson’s lawyers continued to try to deflect potentially damaging testimony about the singer’s past, which prosecutors say supports the charge that Jackson molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Santa Ynez Valley ranch in 2003. Jackson, 46, also has been charged with attempted molestation, furnishing alcohol to a minor and conspiracy. He could face more than 20 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts.

Joy Robson said she had no qualms about her son, Wade, sleeping with Jackson as a child. Wade Robson met Jackson as the prize for winning a dance competition at age 5, and the pair became close friends and spent many nights together in Jackson’s bed, with Joy Robson’s blessing.

“He has a very pure love for children,” Joy Robson said of Jackson. “To know him is to love him and to trust him.”

She said she never saw signs that anything improper was happening between her son, now 22, and the adult pop star, even when they spent hours together alone in Jackson’s bedroom.

“Nothing ever crossed my mind,” she said.

But on cross-examination, Santa Barbara County prosecutors raised questions about the propriety of a grown man sleeping with children. They portrayed Jackson as a manipulative man who had unusual relationships with young boys, while lavishing their families with cash and luxuries.

Joy Robson said she remembers crying one Mother’s Day during a visit to the Neverland ranch because her son spent all his time with Jackson, while paying no attention to her.

She also said Jackson arranged for her to bring her son and daughter to live in the United States, added her to his company’s payroll, gave her $20,000 and helped her son get a $30,000 record deal as a child.

Marie Lisbeth Barnes testified that her son, Brett, spent dozens of nights in bed with Jackson, even accompanying the pop star on concert tours to South America and Europe. During the tours, Brett Barnes and Jackson would share one hotel room, while the rest of the Barnes family stayed in another, the mother said.

“You just feel when you can trust someone and not trust someone, and I have complete trust in him,” Barnes said.

She said Jackson hugged and kissed her son, now 23, but she saw nothing inappropriate about that. Jackson hugs and kisses most friends, including her and her daughter, she said.

Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Ronald Zonen asked her: “Had your son slept with any other man in his 30s up to that point, other than a relative?”

Jackson, she said, was the only one.

Her son and Wade Robson testified Thursday that they shared a bed with Jackson dozens of times but were never molested.

Also Friday, hostilities broke out between the prosecution and the defense. A courtroom bailiff interceded in a loud argument between Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. Tom Sneddon and Jackson lawyer Robert Sanger during a courtroom recess.

Sneddon later angrily accused the defense of withholding investigative reports about witnesses that the defense is required to share with the prosecution. Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville instructed Jackson’s lawyers to share the reports on upcoming witnesses as soon as they are completed.