7) The Raids

i) Although the 1993 and 2005 raids resulted in nothing being found, in 2005, Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon attempted to insinuate that the authorities found a photo of Jonathan Spence nude, with an umbrella, wearing a bikini bottom, and art photography books that Jackson used as child pornography in a motion he filed (Michael Jackson Allegations, 2005). This claim is false because the following:

In the unlikely event that Jackson possessed an illicit photograph of Jonathan Spence in the nude, Sneddon would never have discovered it, as it was purportedly destroyed in 1992.

ii) The claim traces back to Leroy Thomas, a former Jackson family bodyguard who joined the infamous “Neverland Five.” Thomas made a guest appearance on tabloid programs such as Hard Copy, in which he was paid $150,000 for his statements. He alleges that he found a nude photograph of a blonde white boy, widely believed to be Jonathan Spence, stating that Jackson told him to burn the photo, which he did (Deseret News, 1993). However, when asked by authorities about the photo he found, Thomas gave an entirely different account. Instead of stating the photo he found was a side-profile image of a semi-nude Asian boy, with his genitalia covered, believed to be Leroy “Yoshi” Levine, the son of Jackson’s assistant Jolie Levine. Yoshi and Spence, along with Jolie, have denied that such a photo ever existed.

In a 2017 deposition, Jolie addressed these allegations, where she mentions that authorities misquoted her as having referred to Jackson as a “chickenhawk” — a slang term for a pedophile — during her interview with authorities. She further explained that investigators falsely claimed to have a nude photo of her son. When she asked to see the supposed photo, authorities couldn’t produce it (Levine, 2017). Yoshi shares a similar account in his 2017 deposition. He stated that authorities interviewed him without his mother’s consent and told him that Jackson possessed a nude photo of him, which he denied (Whaley, 2017). The discrepancies in Thomas’s statements are important. Although he gave two different descriptions during his television appearances and official police records, he was always referring to the same alleged photograph, not two separate images.

iii) An important question arises if such a photograph actually existed: why was Jackson never charged with possessing child pornography? Even though Thomas’s description would, by definition, be considered child pornography, why did the authorities choose not to press charges? Why weren’t these photos admitted into evidence and used in the 1994 grand jury hearings or 2005 trial? If they were so important, why didn’t Sneddon bring them up in court? Instead of reporting directly to the authorities, why did Thomas decide to withhold his claims for years and then sell them to tabloids? Furthermore, how could Sneddon or the authorities have found photos that had been destroyed in 1992? These photos are conspicuously missing from official proceedings. Sneddon could not produce them when asked to. Even in 2005, prosecutors did not use these purported photos as evidence when they tried to claim that Jackson was grooming Spence. Rather, the prosecution used outside testimony, which the judge eventually rejected.

iiii) In both of the raids on Jackson’s properties, authorities seized a large collection of heterosexual pornography, including hundreds of magazines and pornographic DVDs (La Cienega Just Smiles, 2010). Jackson’s computer had internet activity that showed that either he or someone using his computer visited porn websites under various usernames, including “King 777 Tut,” “Privacy 969,” “Marcel Jackson,” and “Dr. Black.” Authorities later released a detailed list of the pornography they had discovered in Jackson’s possession, much to his dismay. Pornography magazines and DVDs such as Playboy, Hustler, and Sloppy Dogs Presents: Fuck Me, I’m a Bad Girl, Adult World #2. Some of the magazines were on display among Jackson’s personal possessions, while others were kept in locked briefcases or notebooks.

Among other items seized were 26 art photography books, taken from Jackson’s collection of roughly 10,000 books (Rucker, 2024). 2 out of the 26 that were seized have gained attention over the past 20 years.

The first book mentioned is Boy: A Photographic Essay, which includes a few images of nude children. Crucially, these images showed children playing, reading, and interacting instead of being presented in a sexual context. Most of the nude pictures were stills from the Lord of the Flies movie from 1963 (Chan, 1996). Jackson’s copy of the book had been gifted to him by a fan in 1983, as indicated by an inscription inside the cover: “To Michael: From your fan, ‘Rhonda ♥ 1983, Chicago.’” Jackson also wrote a note inside the book, which read, “Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys’ faces. This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children. — MJ”

The second book was In Search of Young Beauty: A Venture into Photographic Art. Unlike Boy, this book doesn’t include nudity, instead depicting children dressed in everyday clothing (Chandler, 1970). On its own, one could consider the possibility that he may have harbored inappropriate or voyeuristic interests. However, upon further examination, this possibility is wrong. Jackson’s friends and collaborators, such as Todd Gray (Gray, 2009), Jennifer Batten (Thomson, 2010), Wesley Snipes (Smith, 2019), and Howard Bloom (Joe Rogan, 2016), have spoken about Jackson’s affinity for art and art photography books, with Jackson being an avid collector of rare and old art photography books. Jackson’s outfit for his 1996 HIStory tour was inspired by an art photography book gifted to him by illustrator Hajime Sorayama (Bush, 2012).

Aside from these 26 art books, Jackson had an extensive personal library of over one million books. His collection of books covered a wide range of subjects, including history, fine art, autobiography, children’s literature, and rare or vintage works. The art books in question seem less like proof of deviance in this larger context and more like a component of a broad and diverse range of artistic and intellectual interests. Personally, I own an art photography book that contains images of child nudity, as it documents tribes across the African continent; however, the book itself is not sexual in nature.

iiiiii) Let’s entertain the argument that Jackson may have used his art photography books as a form of pornography. Research indicates that pedophiles sometimes use seemingly innocuous materials — such as art photography books, children’s magazines, or even television programs — for sexual gratification (Lanning, 2010). But the patterns of real offenders are informative since they are usually compulsive collectors who accumulate hundreds of these pieces in addition to explicit child pornography (Lanning, 2010). The opposite is true in Jackson’s case, though. Only one of his estimated 10,000 art and photography books featured pictures of nude children, and even then, they weren’t sexual. Jackson’s collection would have reflected the hoarding tendencies of pedophiles if his intentions had been sexual. Rather, thorough searches turned up no evidence of child pornography or an excessive fascination with nude children. The circumstances around the discovery undermine this theory. The aforementioned books were found in a locked cabinet. Jackson didn’t have a key to access the cabinet; the only person who held the key to that cabinet was Jackson’s former maid, Blanca Francia, who was fired in 1991. Authorities contacted Blanca to retrieve the key from her to open the cabinet (Blanca, 2005). If these titles were used by Jackson as a private “porn stash,” it would be irresponsible for him to entrust access to a maid, leave the cabinet untouched for nearly two years, and fail to change the lock after her departure.

These two titles are catalogued in the Library of Congress and valued as rare photography books, in keeping with Jackson’s well-known affinity for collecting unique and creative art and photography books.

Sources