LOS ANGELES - The woman whose son accused Michael Jackson of child molestation in a trial that led to Jackson's acquittal was charged with welfare fraud Tuesday in a five-count complaint alleging she collected $18,782 in payments while making false claims she was indigent.
At Jackson's trial, the woman invoked her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and refused to testify about the welfare matter.
But Jackson's lawyers presented evidence that she and her family had received a $150,000 settlement in a 2001 lawsuit against a department store at a time when she was claiming to be indigent.
They also showed the woman was receiving money from her boyfriend to pay the rent on her apartment.
The Associated Press is withholding the name of the woman to protect the identity of her son.
The five-count complaint filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Bureau of Fraud and Corruption Prosecutions alleged that the woman hid from authorities the fact that she had received the settlement and also failed to report the receipt of $637 for payment of her rent in January 2003.
It said the payment occurred in February 2003 but was not discovered until a social services investigator received a tip from a private investigator on Feb. 2, 2005. That was just before the Jackson trial began.
The woman was a key witness for the prosecution against Jackson. Many jurors said her lack of credibility on the witness stand was a major factor in their verdict of not guilty.
Associated Press
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