Robson can't dance after Jackson 'trauma'
11:03am June 26, 2013
A Los Angeles judge is mulling whether to make public the names of two "celebrities" and "salacious" details included in court documents filed by Australian dance choreographer Wade Robson who alleges pop star Michael Jackson molested him as a child.
Lawyers for Robson and Jackson's estate requested all documents be sealed to protect Robson and Jackson's three children, but Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff rejected that.
The judge says he will agree to some redactions, and the edited documents are expected to be released later this week.
During a hearing in downtown LA on Tuesday, Judge Beckloff described two people named in Robson's filings as celebrities and said his tentative decision was to not redact their names.
Lawyers for Jackson's estate have argued redactions should be made to protect the late entertainer's three children - Prince, Paris and Blanket.
"I want to raise the privacy issues and concerns of the family, specifically the minor beneficiaries," Jackson estate lawyer Howard Weitzman said.
"I think those interests might outweigh the interest the public might have in salacious details."
Judge Beckloff also supervises the guardianship of Jackson's three children and during the hearing he told the court he'd sent an investigator earlier this month to look into media reports that 15-year-old Paris had attempted to take her own life.
One of the reported triggers of the suicide attempt was Robson's claim the King of Pop was a sexual predator who brainwashed, threatened and committed sex acts on him from the age of seven through to 14.
Judge Beckloff told the court he was satisfied no changes should be made to the current arrangement of grandmother Katherine Jackson and cousin TJ Jackson acting as the children's guardians.
In deciding whether sections of Robson's filings should be redacted, Paris' vulnerability could be taken into account. "I think Mr Weitzman wants to argue that is a circumstance, that minor's circumstance and situation, that I should consider in considering their request for additional material be sealed," the judge said.
Robson's molestation claims emerged in May when he filed a late creditor's claim against the deceased pop star's estate.
The 30-year-old, originally from Brisbane, had been Jackson's staunchest supporter, testifying under oath at Jackson's 2005 child molestation trial that Jackson never molested him.
Robson claims it wasn't until after Jackson's 2009 death and the birth of his son that he was psychologically and emotionally able and willing to understand he was sexually abused.
Robson was one of the world's top choreographers, working with Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears and winning an Emmy Award for his work on the US version of TV competition So You Think You Can Dance.
He also co-wrote hit songs for 'NSync and Backstreet Boys.
His lawyer, Henry Gradstein, said Robson could no longer dance, sing or write songs.
"It now makes him sick doing what he has talent to do," Mr Gradstein said.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/06/26/05/24/us-judge-to-make-robson-court-files-public
