Cross-examination continues for early Jackson accuser who got settlement from singer
SANTA MARIA, Calif. A man who accuses Michael Jackson of molesting him three times in the early 1990's undergoes further cross-examination today. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau (MEZ'-uh-roh) used a decade-old transcript to show the man initially told detectives nothing bad had happened.
But Jason Francia (FRAHN'-see-uh) says he wasn't interviewed until he was 13, three years after the last time Jackson had molested him, and he was scared and embarrassed.
Mesereau also said Francia's mother, who was then Jackson's maid, had been paid to be on T-V's "Hard Copy." In addition, the mother and son received nearly two-and-a-half (m) million dollars as a settlement from Jackson, who was never charged.
Francia says Jackson fondled him when the boy was seven, eight and ten. Prosecutors want to show that Jackson had a pattern of molestation.
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