Michael Jackson Estate Faces $200 Million Lawsuit Over Alleged Decades of Child Sexual Abuse

The estate of Michael Jackson faces a lawsuit from members of the Cascio family, who accuse the late pop icon of sex trafficking and child sexual abuse, according to legal documents obtained by multiple media outlets.

Siblings Frank Cascio, Dominic Cascio, Marie-Nicole Porte, and Aldo Cascio are suing The Michael Jackson Company, alleging sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion.

They claim that over the course of a decade he “drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the Plaintiffs, beginning when some of them were as young as seven or eight,” according to the filing.

The family alleges Jackson, who died in 2009, “groomed and brainwashed” the siblings throughout their childhood using “methods typical of child predators,” along with his “wealth and fame” and a system of employees who “aided and abetted, and actively concealed” the alleged abuse.

The Cascios, who are represented by Mark Geragos and Howard King, said Jackson inserted himself into their lives with gifts, access to his celebrity lifestyle, and declarations of love. They allege he then isolated each sibling from the others and from their families before abusing them.

The lawsuit claims the siblings are seeking $200 million in damages.

The complaint includes numerous allegations, including that each child was abused “on interstate and international trips” in places such as Switzerland, Florida, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The plaintiffs also allege Jackson normalized the abuse by showing them “pornography and pictures of unclothed children,” which they say he referred to as “sweet.”

They further contend Jackson was frequently under the influence of drugs, including Xanax and Vicodin.

The plaintiffs argue that Jackson’s support system enabled the alleged abuse.

According to the lawsuit, each sibling previously received $690,000 a year for five years as part of a financial settlement with the estate. They now claim that amount was inadequate.

The lawsuit comes about a month after members of the Cascio family appeared in a Beverly Hills courthouse as part of their effort to void their financial settlement with the estate.

A follow-up hearing is scheduled for March 5.

Marty Singer, an attorney for the estate, stated the siblings are attempting to extort the estate. “This lawsuit is a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family who have hopped on the bandwagon with their brother Frank, who is already being sued in arbitration for civil extortion,” Singer told reporters.

“The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence regarding inappropriate conduct,” said Singer. “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 cited several statements from the family that appeared in Frank Cascio’s 2011 book, “My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man,” as well as widely publicized interviews with Oprah Winfrey and others where they “consistently and repeatedly” claimed Jackson “never harmed any of them or anyone else.”

“With the Estate’s financial success growing, the Cascios, through two different attorneys, threatened to go public with heinous accusations that completely contradicted their previous statements defending Michael unless his Estate paid staggering sums of money,” Singer said.

“Last year, the Cascios’ attorney Howard King demanded $213 million. After Howard King was replaced for a time by attorney Mark Geragos, Geragos made a new but equally baseless $40 million demand on behalf of the Cascios.”

Singer added: “Still looking for their multi-million-dollar payday, the Cascios brought back Howard King and are grasping at straws through this frivolous filing.”