Molests in the year 2003
Law enforcement officials announced here on Wednesday that they had issued an arrest warrant for Michael Jackson, the pop singer, on multiple counts of child molesting, opening a perilous new chapter in a life of global fame, untold riches and increasingly bizarre behavior.
The sheriff of Santa Barbara County, Jim Anderson, announced at a news conference that he and the district attorney, Thomas W. Sneddon Jr., were working with Mr. Jackson's lawyers to arrange his surrender and that they would ask that bail be set at $3 million. They are also asking that Mr. Jackson, 45, surrender his passport.
"I believe he is willing to cooperate with us and turn in his passport at this time," Sheriff Anderson said of Mr. Jackson, who was in Las Vegas on Wednesday filming a music special for CBS television that was to have been shown next week.
CBS announced on Wednesday that it was pulling the program from its schedule.
Mr. Sneddon addressed himself to the battery of cameras at the Earl Warren Showgrounds here and said to Mr. Jackson, "Get over here and get checked in." The prosecutor said Mr. Jackson, who avoided criminal charges in a similar case 10 years ago, had been given a deadline for turning himself in but did not say how long he had before he would be considered a fugitive.
