BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
March 4, 2019
By Jessica Heslam
When the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal broke, the pressing question was “how did this happen?”
There were so many signs missed. I got a similar feeling watching the latest, disturbing Michael Jackson documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which aired on HBO Sunday and Monday nights.
When the late King of Pop was parading around the world, always with a young boy by his side, it’s shocking to me why no one questioned what was going on. Looking back, and after watching this haunting footage, it’s even more shocking.
Just as the Catholic Church protected pedophile priests, it’s pretty clear that Jackson had a system in place to facilitate his relationships with young boys. His handlers made sure that Jackson had hotel suites to sexually abuse these young boys that were located far away from their families. There were protocols in place that made sure Jackson had a lot of time alone with these young boys at hotels and Neverland, his ranch north of Los Angeles.
The documentary focuses on two men who say Jackson befriended them when they were boys and molested them for years.
Wade Robson, 36, met Jackson when he was 5 years old, after winning a dance contest in Australia. Jackson, he claims, began molesting him two years later and the sexual abuse lasted for seven years.
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