New Lawsuit Accuses Michael Jackson of Abusing Four Children Over 10 Years

Four siblings, who shared a close relationship with Michael Jackson, have sued his estate, alleging that the late pop star abused them when they were minors. Edward Cascio, Dominic Cascio, Marie-Nicole Cascio, and Aldo Cascio claim Jackson began s—---- assaulting them when they were just seven or eight years old.

According to the complaint, the alleged abuse lasted for over a decade and occurred at multiple places across the world. The lawsuit was filed in a Los Angeles court on February 27. The siblings previously asked a court to dismiss a financial settlement with Jackson’s estate, calling it an ‘unlawful agreement to silence victims of childhood s—-- abuse.”

Jackson first met the complainants in the 1990s while staying at a luxury hotel where the siblings’ father worked as a manager. The suit alleges Jackson gained the family’s trust by giving them gifts and displaying affection. However, the siblings claim that the singer isolated them from adults, provided drugs and alcohol and abused them.

The 23-page complaint reads, “Michael Jackson was a serial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugged, r—- and s—---- assaulted each of the plaintiffs, beginning when some were as young as seven or eight.”

Jackson’s estate has refuted these claims, arguing that the same individuals previously defended the pop star when misconduct allegations surfaced. Marty Singer, a representative of the estate, said in a statement to People, “The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct.”

Singer said the family is trying to extort money from the estate as Jackson returns to public attention because of his upcoming biopic. “This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies,” Singer said.

He also cited statements from the siblings’ elder brother, Frank Cascio, who defended Jackson in his 2011 book based on the pop star. “In all the years that I spent with Michael, I never saw him do anything that was inappropriate or s—--. He was a person who was very childlike, and his friendships with children were based on that shared sense of wonder,” Frank wrote in the book.

The siblings described the alleged abuse in an interview with The Daily Mail. Talking about an alleged incident that happened when he was seven, Aldo Cascio said, “I was just sitting on the bed with him during the day, and I was just playing my Game Boy. And I remember he just went to me and pulled down my shorts…and started performing oral s–.”

This is not the first time Jackson has faced child abuse allegations. In 1993, 13-year-old Jordan Chandler alleged the singer assaulted him at Neverland Ranch. Jackson later reached a civil settlement with the family while maintaining his innocence.

A decade later, the Thriller singer was indicted on child molestation charges, but was acquitted. In 2019, Wade Robson and James Safechuck claimed in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland that they were victims of prolonged abuse by Jackson. The Cascio siblings have stated that the documentary prompted them to speak up.

Michael Jackson died in 2009 at age 50. Authorities determined his death was caused by an accidental propofol overdose. Ever since, his estate oversees his music catalog and legal disputes.