Dan Reed has hit back at those who question the shocking claims made about Jackson in the documentary
THE director of a Leaving Neverland has told fans of Michael Jackson they need to face up the fact he was a paedophile.
Dan Reed has hit back at "truthers" who have come to the defence to the star and tried to cast doubt on the explosive claims made in the documentary.
The late singer is in the spotlight again after the documentary aired renewed claims he molested young children at the height of his fame.
Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s shocking abuse allegations have angered the Jackson family and his legions of fans around the world.
But Reed said told The Morning Show in Australia today: "The aim was never to topple Jackson from his pedestal. I wasn't trying to get Michael Jackson or his music banned.
“People need to face up to the fact he was a paedophile, but continue to separate the art from the man."
The director said that Safechuck and Robson’s allegations were thoroughly checked.
Saying “facts don’t lie, but paedophiles do,” Reed said he went in “with an open mind” and later became convinced of Jackson’s guilt.
“I didn’t approach this in a naive way. I listened very carefully to days and days and days of interview, then we went and did about 18 months of research and checked everything we could and tried to poke holes in Wade and James’ accounts,” said Reed.
“We didn’t find anything that cast any doubt on their accounts — on the contrary, we found a lot of corroborating evidence.
“I interviewed the police investigators and the sheriff’s department investigators who were part of looking into Michael Jackson’s background, and none of them had any doubts at all about his guilt.”
Sifting through hours of claims Reed said the most upsetting account came from Robson,
“The moment that I found most shocking was when Wade began to describe how as a seven-year-old he began to fall in love with Michael Jackson,” Reed said.
“As a parent you think wait a minute, that can’t be right, surely sexual abuse is something that the child experiences as unpleasant, as painful, as difficult.
“But in fact what I began to realise was that the seduction that Michael Jackson inflicted on these children was kind of part and parcel of all the affection and tenderness and attention that he was giving them.
"What you realise is that a proper grooming paedophile, which is what Jackson was, will just sort of gently ingratiate his way both into the family, but also into the child’s affections.”
The director went on to talk about how he was concerned his documentary would affect the superstar's kids.
Reed said while he was “of course worried” about the impact it would have on Jackson’s children, Robson and Safechuck’s account was a story that needed to be told.
He said: “Jackson’s children had nothing to do with the sexual abuse and of course they’re upset that their dad is being accused of all this stuff.
“But these allegations have been around for decades now and they won’t come as any surprise to the kids.
“I feel for them, I wish them the very best, but the truth must come out because I think this is an important story.”
