The teenager who accuses Michael Jackson of sex abuse has admitted he had told his school principal he had not beenmolested by the superstar singer.
Facing a tough day of questioning at the resumption of the trial in California today, the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also admitted to being disruptive at school and confused about sexuality.
He told jurors last week that Jackson (46) masturbated him at least twice in February or March of 2003 after nights of heavy drinking at the singer's Neverland Valley Ranch.
Jackson is charged with molesting the boy, who was 13 at the time, plying him with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment.
Before questioning the boy on his central accusations against Jackson, lead defense lawyer Tom Mesereau confronted him with a string of complaints from teachers about disciplinary problems when he was younger, including getting into fights, disruption in class and bad grades.
"You had a meeting with [the school principal] because of allegations you had disciplinary problems," Mr Mesereau said. "No," the boy replied. "I had a meeting with him because I was a disciplinary problem.
"I wasn't that good of a kid then. I argued with teachers and stuff like that."
After causing a stir last week by arriving at court late, dressed in pajamas and looking shaky, Jackson was back to his popstar self today, arriving on time in a bright red jacket and smart black pants with silver piping.
Jackson's lawyers, who say the boy's mother dreamed up the sex abuse to extort money from the self-proclaimed "King of Pop," are expected to do their utmost to undermine the boy's credibility.
Mr Mesereau said the school principal had at one time asked the boy directly if Jackson had ever molested him. According to the transcript of the interview, the boy replied "No," the lawyer said.
The boy acknowledged on the stand that he had responded no. Mr Mesereau also confronted the boy, who met Jackson when he was recovering from cancer, with an interview he gave to police around the time of his alleged molestation by the singer.
In that interview, the boy told police that his grandmother had told him that if men do not masturbate they end up raping women - almost exactly the comment that Jackson is alleged to have made to the teen.
However, the boy told Mr Mesereau he discussed masturbation with both Jackson and his grandmother. "Michael tried to explain to me first. He was more pushing it on me ... I guess my grandmother saw I was very confused about sexuality. She didn't make the identical quote."
The trial continues today.
AP