Inside Michael Jackson's secret closet. A hidden panel behind his clothes wardrobe opens to reveal a concealed room with disturbing images. Photo / Splash News
Inside Michael Jackson's secret closet. A hidden panel behind his clothes wardrobe opens to reveal a concealed room with disturbing images. Photo / Splash News
New images have been released of the November 2003 raid of Michael Jackson's home by 70 members of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Department which uncovered his collection of pornography and photos featuring young boys naked.
They show Jackson's home, from the arcade room to his bedroom and the many life-size mannequins he had throughout his Neverland Ranch. Many of these mannequins were superheroes like Superman and Lara Croft.
Images from inside Jackson's secret closet. Photo / Splash News
This raid also revealed for the first time the King of Pop's secret closet, hidden in the back of his bedroom and kept closed with three deadlocks. It was in here that he kept memorabilia like a signed photograph of Macaulay Culkin, stuffed animals and games, and naked photos.
Culkin signed his photo with the message: 'Don't leave me alone in the house.'
There were also racing cars, Disney merchandise and a shocking number of dolls.
Radar spoke with Santa Barbara Senior Assistant District Attorney Ron Zonen about the case as he was part of the prosecution team that took on Jackson in court.
Jackson kept a huge number of children's toys in the closet. Photo / Splash News
"A lot of this stuff was used to desensitize the children, and Michael admitted taking one child after another into bed with him for long periods of time," said Zonen.
"We identified five different boys, who all made allegations of sexual abuse. There's not much question in my mind that Michael was guilty of child molestation."
Clothes on hangers hides the entrance to the hidden closet. Photo / Splash News
Jackson was ultimately acquitted in 2005 after being charged with seven felony counts of child molestation and two felony counts of providing an intoxicant to a minor under the age of 14 when Gavin Arvizo came forward claiming that he had been sexually assaulted by the singer.
Gavin was a 13-year-old cancer survivor at the time of the alleged incidents.
The claims made by Gavin were similar to the ones made a decade earlier when another 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler, came forward to say he had been molested by Jackson.
No charges were ever filed against the singer however after police discovered the Chandler's father may have been attempting to extort Jackson and the young boy's mother claimed Jackson never touched her son.
This photo shows a police mug shot taken of US pop star Michael Jackson at the Santa Barbara Sheriff's booking office in Santa Barbara. Photo / File
Jordan however was able to perfectly describe Jackson's buttocks, pubic hair, and distinctive marks on both his testicles and penis.
The mark on the penis could only be seen if it was lifted and was otherwise not visible.
In the end, Jackson settled with the Chandler family for $22 million and no charges were ever filed against him in court.
Michael Jackson prepares to enter the Santa Barbara County Superior Court to hear the verdict read in his child molestation case June 13, 2005. Photo / Getty
Once the trial was over Jackson - who had been facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all charges - left the country, moving to the island nation of Bahrain, located in the Persian Sea.
He eventually returned to the United States and had been preparing for his comeback tour in 2009 when he was found unresponsive inside his Holmby Hills home.
Aerial view of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Photo / Getty
Paramedics arrived on the scene and were unable to revive the singer, who they declared dead at the age of 48 while still at his residence.
The cause of death was later ruled to be acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication caused by drugs that were being prescribed to him by Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 and charged with the singer's death.
He was released in November 2013 after serving roughly half of his four year sentence.
