A California appeals court ruled Friday that two men who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them as children can resume proceedings against companies belonging to the late singer’s estate. Wade Robson, 40, and James Safechuck, 45, say employees of the two companies – MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc. – were complicit in Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse. The cases, detailed in the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” were initially dropped in 2017, but a new state law allowed them to reopen.
The reopening of proceedings
The lawsuits allege that employees of Jackson’s companies had a duty to care for the boys, violating that duty by failing to prevent the abuse. The cases were filed in 2013 and 2014 and later dismissed in 2017 due to the statute of limitations. However, in 2020, a new state law gave plaintiffs in child sexual abuse cases more time to file suits.
Despite the length, the lawsuits were filed again in 2020 and 2021 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. A judge ruled at the time that companies were not required to protect children.
Friday’s new ruling runs counter to that ruling, with California’s Second District Court of Appeals rejecting the companies’ arguments that they had no duty to protect victims because they “didn’t have the ability to control Jackson — his sole owner – or their interactions with children. For the judge who heard the case, “a company that facilitates the sexual abuse of children by one of its employees is not relieved of the affirmative duty to protect those children, just because it is the exclusive property of the abuser.”
reactions and statements
Jackson’s estate denies the allegations. Jonathan Steinsapir, defense attorney, said following the ruling: “We remain fully confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were made within a few years of the death of Michael by men who are motivated. just for the money.”
On the other hand, Vince Finaldi, attorney for Safechuck and Robson, said the court reversed “erroneous decisions in these cases, which were contrary to California law and would have set a dangerous precedent that would have endangered children.”
Next steps
The decision marks the second time the lawsuits, filed in 2013, have been reinstated after being dismissed. With the appeal won, the lawsuits will now return to a lower court, where a Los Angeles judge will reconsider the charges against Jackson, marking another chapter in the controversies surrounding the singer’s legacy.
Source: Terra

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