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In the period 1992-1993 'Jordan Chandler' (also called Jordy and Jordie, born January 11, 1980) was a friend of Pop icon Michael Jackson. In 1993, allegations of child sexual abuse were made against Jackson by Jordan Chandler and his parents which Jackson strongly refuted. While no criminal charges were ever filed, as the accuser was unwilling to testify, the civil portion of the case resulted in a monetary settlement.
The Chandler case also formed part of the backdrop for the 2005 trial, where Gavin Arvizo claimed he was also sexually abused; a jury unanimously acquitted Jackson of those 10 charges.

Contents

Background

Allegations

Civil settlement

Investigations and aftermath

See also

External links

Background

At the time of the alleged incidents, Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler were close friends. Together with Jordan's mother and half-sister, they stayed at Neverland Ranch, at Jackson's Century City, Los Angeles apartment ("The Hideout"), and in May-July 1993, they visited Las Vegas, Orlando, Florida, Monaco (for the World Music Awards), Disneyland Resort Paris, and New York. Jackson also spent a total of around 30 nights with Jordan at his mother's home, in several periods of 1-2 weeks, and two weekends at the house of Jordan's divorced father, Evan Chandler. At times he stayed with Jordan in Jordan's bed, a habit Jackson adopted with the other children he befriended, many of whom have strongly maintained that Jackson never acted inappropriately.
The friendship was apparent and open — for example, Jordan and his sister were seen sitting on Jackson's lap in the front row of the World Music Awards ceremony, next to Albert II, Prince of Monaco. Jackson's stated view on this was that children should be treated and brought up naturally and not taught to fear adult company.

Allegations

According to Raymond Chandler's claimed transcription of an interview, Jackson and Jordan shared a bed, but at least initially this was non-sexual. Jordan's mother June Chandler first objected, but Jackson convinced her by saying (summarized) "there's nothing wrong with it, you should allow it because it's simple and fun and you shouldn't set up barricades." In the 2005 trial, June Chandler repeated this notion: "He said: 'We're a family. Jordie is having fun. Why can't he sleep in my bed? There's nothing wrong. There's nothing going on. Don't you trust me?’"
Later it was alleged that Jackson masturbated Jordan multiple times and also performed oral sex on him, and that Jordan had masturbated Jackson. According to Jordan (and based upon Ray Chandler's claimed transcription of what Jordan had said) Jackson said that he believed that this was okay, and that this belief was matter of being "unconditioned" (i.e., free from social conditioning).
Later that year, Jordan filed a complaint against Jackson. Neverland Ranch was searched. Amongst other items, the book ''The Boy, A Photographic Essay'' was found which contains photographs of both nude and clothed children. Although some may look upon it as child erotica, it is legal and not child pornography [1]. The book was entered into court evidence during the 2005 trial and court testimony revealed that the book contained a written inscription: "To Michael: From your fan, Rhonda. Love XXXOOO ♥ Rhonda - 1983, Chicago." therefore Jackson never purchased it and there is no proof he even opened it.
As part of the 1993 investigation, Jordan Chandler was asked to describe Jackson's penis. Jordan's description was then compared to photographs taken of Jackson's body during the investigation. Whether or not Jordan's description and the photographs closely matched remains widely disputed. Several Chandler and prosecution sources have implied over the years that the comparisons were accurate. In articles published by ''USA Today'' and Reuters back in January 1994, a source close to the case stated that the photographs were "at variance" with the description Jordan Chandler provided and that "the pictures simply didn't match the boy's description."

Civil settlement

The civil portion of the Chandler case against Jackson was mutually settled with the payment of an undisclosed amount of money. In a legal court document filed in court on March 22, 2005, it was stated that Jackson's insurance carrier ultimately negotiated and paid the full settlement amount[2]. The court document states that "the 1993 civil settlement was made by Mr. Jackson's insurance company and was not within Mr. Jackson's control... The settlement agreement was for global claims of negligence and the lawsuit was defended by Mr. Jackson's insurance carrier. The insurance carrier negotiated and paid the settlement, over the protests of Mr. Jackson and his personal legal counsel."
Leaked settlement documents first made public in June of 2004 revealed that the amount paid to the family included a $6 million annuity for the son, $1.5 million for each parent and $5 million in legal fees. Within the settlement agreement, Jackson "specifically disclaims any liability to, and denies any wrongful acts" against Jordan Chandler and the Chandler family.
As is common in settlements, a confidentiality agreement was included within the out of court settlement. For that reason, neither Jackson nor his accuser can legally talk much in public about the allegations and the settlement. Evan Chandler filed a new civil complaint against Jackson in 1996 for allegedly violating the confidentiality, seeking an additional $60 million and the chance to produce his own album, ''EVANstory''. In 1999, an arbitrator rejected his claims. Jordan's uncle Raymond ("Ray") Chandler is not bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Investigations and aftermath

There were criminal investigations led by district attorney Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. from 1993-1994, with grand juries in both Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Although the civil settlement did not prevent Jordan Chandler from pursuing a criminal case against Jackson, Chandler declined to testify in court. In the end, no criminal charges were ever brought against Michael Jackson; partially because Jordan Chandler refused to testify.
Californian law was subsequently modified, to prevent minors having a financial incentive not to testify in a criminal lawsuit. [3] [4]. Jackson's spokespersons have repeatedly stated that the settlement was not in any way an admission of guilt, and Jackson himself has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Public opinion remains divided; some feel the settlement was a partial confession on Jackson's behalf, others believe that it was successful extortion. After the 2003 allegations broke, several books were published by those indirectly involved in the 1993 proceedings. Raymond Chandler, the uncle of Jordan Chandler, published a book in 2004 to tell the story from the Chandler side of the case (admittedly, Raymond Chandler has not communicated with Jordan Chandler for over a decade). Geraldine Hughes, a legal secretary for one of the lawyers involved in the 1993 case, also published a book in 2004 to tell the story from the perspective that Jackson had been set-up.
In 2005, according to Raymond Chandler, Jordan left the country to avoid testifying in the trial against Jackson; Ray states that Jordan does not like the media attention and has moved three times since the case began. His mother, June Chandler, has not seen her son in 11 years either, and Ray is also estranged from her.
In 2006, Jordan Chandler accused his father of abuse because he bought the wrong bread. The accuser, now 26, says his ex-dentist dad Evan Chandler "struck him on the head from behind with ... (dumbbell) weight ... sprayed his eyes with Mace or pepper spray, and tried to choke him" last year, according to court documents filed in New Jersey.

See also

★ 2005 trial of Michael Jackson (the later 2005 trial on similar charges, and prior history stated in that case)

External links

★ http://www.nndb.com/people/697/000030607/

★ Legal complaint by Jordan Chandler, Sept 1993

★ Claimed transcript (with detailed description of sex acts left out) of taped interview of Jordan Chandler by the late psychiatrist Richard Gardner, Oct 1993: html, gif - published in 2004 by Ray Chandler as part of his book ''All That Glitters'' [5]

★ Declaration under penalty of perjury by Jordan Chandler, Dec 1993: html gif

★ 1994 settlement

★ Was Michael Jackson Framed? by Mary A. Fisher, GQ magazine 1994

★
★ Lengthy critical review of GQ article by Ray Chandler