Prosecutors told a judge today that pop star Michael Jackson systematically plied a young teenager with alcohol to seduce him, charges that Jackson's attorney declared ridiculous during a stormy hearing on a motion to dismiss the case.
Going into greater detail in public than ever before about the child molestation charges against the 45-year-old Jackson, prosecutor Mr Gordon Auchincloss said that the singer had turned his Neverland ranch about 100 miles (160 kms) north of Los Angeles "into an enormous resort and amusement park literally designed to entice and attract children."
And it was there that Mr Auchincloss said that Jackson seduced the young teenage boy who is at the center of the case.
The prosecutor said the seduction took place after the boy appeared holding hands with Jackson in a controversial British television documentary two years ago.
In that film, the self-styled "King of Pop" said he saw nothing wrong with sharing his bedroom with children on overnight visits, a comment that sparked a worldwide furor.
Mr Auchincloss said that the documentary also triggered a crisis in the Jackson camp and that the singer himself tried to manipulate the boy and his family into holding a press conference to publicly praise the performer.
"Jackson felt that if he could get John Doe (the name the boy is referred to in court papers) on film explaining what a wonderful person he is, this would would help quell the outrage. The documentary brought Jackson's whole world crashing down."
The prosecutor said that Jackson called the boy and his family to lure them to his ranch. He added that Jackson served the boy alcohol in an ultimately successful effort to get the victim to sleep with him.
But Mr Thomas Masereau, Jackson's lawyer, said that the prosecution's case would be laughed out of court by a jury "because it is ridiculous."
He also said that the prosecution had bullied witnesses and used improper expert testimony.
In court papers filed yesterday, the defense charged that prosecutors were trying to "take down a major celebrity" and called for a trial delay of at least four months, which would shift the case to early 2005.