It has been reported that child pornography was found at the home of the deceased king of pop Michael Jackson in 2003. Police made the discovery during a search of the property following allegations of child molestation.
Us Entertainment site Radar Online has reported that a number of books containing explicit images of "nude children" and "pre-teen or early teenage individuals" who were "nude or semi-nude"were found by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The material found included "notes, diaries, documents, photographs, audiotapes and videotapes".
In the report a member of the investigatory team states, "Based on my training, this type of material can be used as part of the 'grooming' process, by which people (those seeking to molest children) lower the inhibitions of their intended victims and facilitate the molestation of said victims". The Daily Mail has reported that a number of the discovered items were included in court papers at the time.
Jackson was sued by 13 year old Evan Chandler for sexually assaulting him. The two parties made a financial settlement in 1994 and the criminal charges were dropped in 1995 due to lack of evidence.
In 2003 he was charged with seven accounts of child molestation and two counts of providing intoxicants to a minor after another alleged young victim came forward. He was acquitted of all charges in 2005 and passed away from a prescription medication overdose in June 2009.