Michael Jackson 2005 abuse trial juror reveals she was convinced star molested child

A juror in Michael Jackson’s 2005 abuse trial has revealed she was convinced the star molested a child but still helped find him innocent.

The Sun reports juror Eleanor Cook, now 93, said she didn’t believe accuser Wade Robson’s testimony when he took to the witness stand to defend Jackson amid sexual abuse claims.
 

However, Ms Cook felt both Robson and actor Macaulay Culkin lied under oath to protect the singer.

When asked about Robson and Culkin saying under oath that they had never been abused by Jackson, Ms Cook said: “I didn’t believe them. They were kids who grew up with Michael.”

Ms Cook, who was juror number five, admitted she and another juror strongly felt the Billie Jean singer was guilty but eventually decided to agree with the rest of the panel because they “knew we weren’t going to change anyone’s mind”.

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Jackson — who died from acute propofol intoxication in June 2009 — was acquitted of all charges but the juror felt he “should have been sent to jail” and “punished”.

However, Ms Cook admitted she “felt sorry” for the singer.

She said: “His father mistreated him. Yes, he was guilty, and he did a lot of that stuff.

“But he had a hard life, and his mother was the only one that was there every day. She was a very sweet woman.”
 

A spokesman for Culkin declined to address Ms Cook’s comments.

They said: “We decline to dignify the request with a response.”

However, the 38-year-old actor has always denied any suggestion the Bad hit maker ever acted inappropriately towards him.

In director Dan Reed’s Leaving Neverland, both Robson and James Safechuck claimed they were abused by the singer until they became teenagers.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission