"There were late nights, no homework, no school, alcohol ... a world of indulgence for children," Auchincloss said, which led to "an ultimately successful effort to get the victim sleeping in bed" with Jackson."

Auchincloss said the singer had turned his Neverland ranch about 100 miles north of Los Angeles "into an enormous luxury resort and amusement park literally designed to entice and attract children." [Reuters] All I can say is goddamn. The BBC adds:

"It [the ranch] is an isolated and gated area where Michael Jackson could carry out his plans [of] false imprisonment, child abduction and extortion," Mr Auchincloss said.

The prosecutor then said Jackson gave the boy and his family luxurious gifts, flew them to exotic vacations where they met celebrities and took them to his Neverland ranch to make a "rebuttal video" in which they would say that nothing sexual happened between the boy and Jackson. But according to their timeline, nothing did happen until much later.

....Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. ridiculed the assumption that the trips constituted false imprisonment, saying, "The idea that they were imprisoned and forced to fly on private jets to Florida, to socialize with celebrities such as Chris Tucker, is absurd on its face. It would be laughed out of court by a jury."

....One trial observer, defense attorney Steve Cron, said of the story so far: "It would seem sort of weird that he would get this kid on tape saying he had not done anything and then he would go out and do it."

...."It's not what we expected as the theory," said Loyola University Law School professor Laurie Levenson. "It seems backwards."

....Levenson said, "This either portrays a faulty prosecution theory or a bold and reckless act by Jackson. ... There may be a fine line between whether he was committing a criminal act or showing the family a good time."