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Wade Robson calls Michael Jackson 'a pedophile'
By Alan Duke, CNN
updated 2:57 PM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
Accuser "denied under oath" he was molested, Jackson estate says
Wade Robson is seeking money from Jackson's estate for alleged child sex abuse
Robson defended Michael Jackson in his 2005 criminal trial
"This is not a case of repressed memory," Robson tells NBC
Los Angeles (CNN) -- A dancer-choreographer befriended by Michael Jackson when he was a child now calls the late pop icon "a pedophile and a child sexual abuser."
Wade Robson, who is seeking money from Jackson's estate for alleged child sex abuse, talked about his claims Thursday on NBC's "Today" show.
Robson, now 30, denied in testimony at Jackson's child molestation trial in 2005 that he had been molested by the singer.
Two months after Jackson's death in 2009, Robson said they had "a wonderful relationship" and he called Jackson "a kind human being."
"This is not a case of repressed memory," Robson told "Today's" Matt Lauer. "I never forgot one moment of what Michael did to me, but I was psychologically and emotionally completely unable and unwilling to understand that it was sexual abuse. "
The lawyer for Jackson's estate called the accusations "outrageous and sad" in a statement given after the Thursday interview.
"Mr. Robson has adamantly denied under oath and in numerous interviews over the past 20 years that Michael Jackson ever did anything inappropriate to him," Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said. "He now wants us to believe that he committed perjury at least twice and has been lying to anyone and everyone about Mr. Jackson since the early '90s so he can file a claim for money. Mr. Robson's transparent lawsuit comes nearly four years after Michael passed."
The accusation came in the form of a creditor's claim against the estate in a Los Angeles probate court this month.
Robson said the abuse started when he was 7-years-old, when he often visited Jackson's Neverland Ranch. It continued until he was 14, he said.
"He performed sexual acts on me and forced me to perform sexual acts on him," Robson said.
Fullness
By Alan Duke, CNN
updated 2:57 PM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
Accuser "denied under oath" he was molested, Jackson estate says
Wade Robson is seeking money from Jackson's estate for alleged child sex abuse
Robson defended Michael Jackson in his 2005 criminal trial
"This is not a case of repressed memory," Robson tells NBC
Los Angeles (CNN) -- A dancer-choreographer befriended by Michael Jackson when he was a child now calls the late pop icon "a pedophile and a child sexual abuser."
Wade Robson, who is seeking money from Jackson's estate for alleged child sex abuse, talked about his claims Thursday on NBC's "Today" show.
Robson, now 30, denied in testimony at Jackson's child molestation trial in 2005 that he had been molested by the singer.
Two months after Jackson's death in 2009, Robson said they had "a wonderful relationship" and he called Jackson "a kind human being."
"This is not a case of repressed memory," Robson told "Today's" Matt Lauer. "I never forgot one moment of what Michael did to me, but I was psychologically and emotionally completely unable and unwilling to understand that it was sexual abuse. "
The lawyer for Jackson's estate called the accusations "outrageous and sad" in a statement given after the Thursday interview.
"Mr. Robson has adamantly denied under oath and in numerous interviews over the past 20 years that Michael Jackson ever did anything inappropriate to him," Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said. "He now wants us to believe that he committed perjury at least twice and has been lying to anyone and everyone about Mr. Jackson since the early '90s so he can file a claim for money. Mr. Robson's transparent lawsuit comes nearly four years after Michael passed."
The accusation came in the form of a creditor's claim against the estate in a Los Angeles probate court this month.
Robson said the abuse started when he was 7-years-old, when he often visited Jackson's Neverland Ranch. It continued until he was 14, he said.
"He performed sexual acts on me and forced me to perform sexual acts on him," Robson said.
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