A Los Angeles judge dismissed a sexual abuse case against pop star Michael Jackson due to a lack of evidence on Monday.
Judge Mark Young of the Los Angeles Superior Court granted the Jackson estate’s request to dismiss a suit by Wade Robson in 2013, citing the plaintiff’s lack of evidence in support of his claims that the late singer sexually abused him.
“There is no evidence supporting plaintiff’s contention that defendants exercised control over Jackson,” Young wrote in the decision. “The evidence further demonstrates that defendants had no legal ability to control Jackson, because Jackson had complete and total ownership of the corporate defendants.”
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Vince Finaldi, attorney for Robson and James Safechuck, who also sued Jackson posthumously for alleged sexual abuse, criticized Young’s ruling.
“If allowed to stand, the decision would set a dangerous precedent that would leave thousands of children working in the entertainment industry vulnerable to sexual abuse by persons in places of power,” he said according to the Associated Press.
Jackson estate attorney Jonathan Steinsapir said the judge‘s dismissal proved “that Robson’s claims have no merit whatsoever [and] that no trial is necessary.”
“Wade Robson has spent the last eight years pursuing frivolous claims in different lawsuits against Michael Jackson’s estate and companies associated with it,” he alleged.
Robson, now 38, said he first met Jackson when he was 5 years old. Along with Safechuck, Robson appeared in the 2019 documentary film Leaving Neverland. Both men claimed Jackson kissed them, masturbated in front of them, and engaged in oral sex with them.
“He was one of the kindest, most gentle, loving, caring people I knew … and he also sexually abused me for seven years,” Robson said in the film.
In his 2014 lawsuit, Safechuck alleged he was sexually abused by Jackson more than 100 times in four years and had been “brainwashed” into believing the incidents were “acts of love.” His suit was dismissed last October.
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Another judge previously dismissed the lawsuits by Robson and Safechuck in 2017 because the statute of limitations had expired, but an appeals court revived the legal actions in 2019 under a new California law giving those who allege childhood sexual abuse a larger window to file lawsuits.
Jackson, known as the “King of Pop” for hits such as “Thriller” and “Beat It,” was accused of sexual abuse by other children. The 1993 allegations against him were settled out of court. Another set of allegations went to court in 2005, and Jackson was found not guilty on all 14 counts. He died from cardiac arrest after a propofol overdose administered by his doctor in 2009.
