IT was the ultimate playground for the pop star who never grew up — but Michael Jackson’s Neverland is also said to be the location of some of the most wicked behaviour imaginable.
Jacko is alleged to have molested children time and again — charges he always denied — at the sprawling park on the edge of California’s Los Padres National Forest.
The King Of Pop had his bedroom and private quarters bugged and also filmed his own tapes of his sleepovers with children[/caption]
Adrian McManus claims Michael Jackson secretly recorded his time with children inside his Neverland ranch, including with his two current sex abuse accusers[/caption]
Now the truth of exactly what happened in the $22million property in Los Olivos could be a step closer.
Today we can reveal that the Thriller singer secretly recorded his time with children inside his Neverland ranch, including with his two current sex abuse accusers.
The King Of Pop had his bedroom and private quarters bugged and also filmed his sleepovers and bed-sharing antics with children.
These recordings have never been located, but could prove vital evidence for Wade Robson and James Safechuck — former child pals who now accuse the star of molestation — in their lawsuits against Jackson’s estate in court.
That is the sensational claim made by Jackson’s personal maid, Adrian McManus, one of the trusted few who were inside his inner sanctum.
McManus, who worked for MJ from 1990 to 1994 at Neverland, believes the tapes “could change everything” for Robson and Safechuck’s legal battle and is urging the owner to hand them over to lawyers.
She says that one trusted aide told her the recordings “could be very incriminating for Mr Jackson”.
‘Missed information’
McManus is speaking following the airing of Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson, on Channel 4.
The documentary furthers Robson and Safechuck’s claims that they were molested by the singer and their bid to battle Jacko’s estate and managers, who strenuously deny the claims.
McManus, who was around when Robson, 42, and Safechuck, 47, were at Jacko’s pad, believes the pair are telling the truth about the sexual abuse at Jackson’s hands.
The former maid says she watched Jackson host dozens of children and their families during her time working for him.
Many times she witnessed the star “playing and hanging out” for hours at a time with kids alone without parental supervision.
Sleepovers were common, along with hiding in secret chambers connected to his bedroom, as well as his zoo, private cinema, waterfall and arcade game chambers.
Jackson would have many camcorders in those areas and stored tapes in his bedroom cabinet or with other members of staff.
Child sex abuse accusations against Jackson first emerged in July 1993 when Evan Chandler alleged the singer molested his son Jordan — and the dad vowed to “destroy” him.
It prompted Jackson’s lawyers and his private investigator Anthony Pellicano to take “protective actions”.
They visited Neverland — and McManus said that some rooms were cleaned up and the tapes and camcorders disappeared.
The following month Santa Barbara prosecutors raided the ranch but found no clear proof of criminal acts.
Within weeks, Chandler filed a $30million lawsuit alleging wrongdoing and harm to his family, later reaching a financial settlement with Jackson in January 1994.
McManus, 62, said: “I was told that the investigators missed a great deal of information that was kept in a security office.
“There were hard drives and a lot of files that were missed.”
She does not know specifics of what was on the files, but added: “I had an idea they were trying to protect him. They didn’t want any logs of children’s names or the times they were there coming out.”
McManus believes the camcorder and audio tapes, which could contain evidence of criminality, may not have been destroyed but kept by loyal aides to the star.
She is urging them to make the recordings public to either clear Jackson or aid Robson and Safechuck’s case.
The sales executive added: “I really hope somewhere they come up.
“It could change everything. So I really hope that the truth comes out and those boys can heal completely.”
McManus, who gave evidence against Jackson in the 2005 molestation trial where he was acquitted, claimed managers and record label bosses were terrified that the Chandlers’ claims could kill his career.
She said: “The people around Michael, I’m going to say the majority of them, they all knew what he was.
“They all knew and they were covering for him.
“It took me a long time to figure out how to put one and one together to figure these people knew.
The people around Michael, I’m going to say the majority of them, they all knew what he was
Adrian McManus
“When I sued Mr Jackson and his attorneys, they used to call me ‘crazy for the stories you’re telling’.
“Well, I mean, look who I worked for. He wasn’t really a normal guy and he told me a lot of crazy stuff. So if it sounded crazy, well it came from him. And then after we lost the lawsuit, Michael’s attorney, I met with him and he said, “Adrian, I wanted to talk to you way before this. I believed you.”
McManus says she is sure that rooms were bugged because she saw radio transmitters fitted into wall sockets and even tested by guards.
They controlled you and told you what to think
Adrian McManus
Her suspicions were confirmed when she spoke loudly to other maids about a problem in Jackson’s bedroom before a guard rushed to ask her to explain what had happened.
In Leaving Neverland 2, Robson and Safechuck double down on their allegations that Jackson molested them both over several years.
The pair have been fighting for multi-million dollar reparations from Jackson’s estate and businesses through civil lawsuits at the LA Supreme Court.
Jackson’s legal team have accused the pair of being liars.
Documentary director Dan Reed and the two accusers have told how they have been threatened for years by angry fans about the claims.
ROOMS BUGGED
McManus has sympathy for them, having endured years of criticism for speaking out against her ex employer.
She said: “Michael had mentioned to me that if I ever did or said anything that he didn’t like that all he had to do was tell Bill Bray, who was the head of his security, or (chief of staff) Norma Staikos, and they’d take care of me, but it wouldn’t come from him.
“That itself was a threat. I couldn’t even believe that he had said that.
“From the very beginning of my employment, I went through a lot of mind manipulation with him where he would tell me not to trust anybody at Neverland.”
She feels that some of Jackson’s former staff were terrified to speak out about the star’s odd lifestyle and interactions with children from when he bought Neverland in 1988 to moving out in 2005.
McManus believes tapes ‘could change everything’ for James Safechuck’s legal battle and is urging the owner to hand them over to lawyers[/caption]
McManus said: “When I took that job, we were told, ‘You don’t question Mr Jackson when his guests are here. Those are his guests, not yours. You just go do your job.’
“They kind of controlled you and told you what to think.”
She felt “an underlying threat of violence or potential problems”.
McManus said: “There was a confidentiality agreement and we had to sign it.
“They didn’t want you speaking about Michael, anything you saw around there.
“If the children were there, and let’s say the cook wanted to show them how to cut a pumpkin, Michael would get angry.
“He didn’t want any of us employees mixing with his little boyfriends or any of the guests.
CONTROLLED
“He would get mad and there were a lot of times when he would come to me and he was mad because certain people were playing with his little boys. So you kind of knew better to stand back.”
Speaking about the fans who have criticised Safechuck, McManus said: “They get mad when you come out and you say things that happened to you. ‘Oh no, you’re a liar,’ they say.
“It didn’t happen to them so they can never understand it. They don’t know Michael. How do you stick up for somebody when you never met him
“And Michael never liked fans. He would never hire a person that was a fan to work at Neverland.
“People need to rethink their thoughts because I went through hell and I’m going to come out and I’m going to say what it was.”
McManus is close to finishing a book about her four years working for Jackson.
She said: “It will be the truth of what it was like working for him — stories that no one has ever heard and some will never believe.”
