Hours after a child welfare agency memo surfaced saying that earlier this year Michael Jackson had been cleared of allegations that he molested a 13-year-old boy, Los Angeles police officials on Tuesday said they had almost no involvement in that investigation.
And Santa Barbara prosecutors -- who are expected to charge Jackson with child molestation next week following their own probe -- said they did not expect the prior investigation to be "significant" to their case.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services memo, which was first made public by The Smoking Gun Web site, said that the agency and the LAPD had determined in February that there was no basis for the allegations against Jackson. . . .
[I]n a strange twist, Los Angeles Police officials said in a written statement that their involvement in the investigation consisted of a failed bid to interview the boy and his family.
"A Los Angeles Police Department detective accompanied a DCFS caseworker to make contact with the child at an address that had been provided to DCFS," the statement said. "The child and his family could not be located at the address."
"The Department of Children and Family Services no longer required the assistance of the Los Angeles Police Department," the statement said. "The Los Angeles Police Department had no further involvement in this matter."
Details from the AP here.