Prosecutors in the US have dismissed claims that a teenage cancer survivor who is accusing Michael Jackson of sexual abuse told social workers months ago that the star had never molested him.
The claims were made on news website thesmokinggun, which uncovered a welfare agency memo, stating that Michael Jackson had been cleared of allegations that he molested a 13-year-old boy earlier this year.
It followed an investigation into the relationship between Jackson and the boy, who appeared on a documentary by Martin Bashir earlier this year.
However, Santa Barbara prosecutors - who are expected to charge Jackson with child molestation next week following their own probe - said they did not expect the prior investigation to be "significant" to their case.
Los Angeles police officials said they had almost no involvement in that investigation.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon and Sheriff Jim Anderson said in a joint statement that they were aware of the Los Angeles investigation before they proceeded with their own case against Jackson.
"Given what we know, we do not consider the DCFS statement a significant factor," they said.
Jackson, who was released on $3 million bail, has called the allegations a "big lie." His attorney, Mark Geragos, could not be reached for comment.
Los Angeles authorities began their investigation after a British TV documentary in which Jackson said he shared his bed with children. But according to the memo, the boy's mother told investigators "the media had taken everything out of context."
That claim appears to be substantiated by the document drawn up by the Department of Children and Family Services in Los Angeles at the beginning of this year.