Global hunt launched for 'first accuser' of Michael Jackson to testify

Publish Date: Monday, 10 July 2017, 4:46PM

A global hunt has been launched for the first man to publicly accuse Michael Jackson of child molestation so he can testify in a new US$100 million ($137m) case.

Jordan Chandler, now 37, won a US$20m (NZ$27.4m) settlement from Jackson after his father Evan Chandler launched accusations that the King of Pop sexually abused him at the age of 13, the Daily Mail reports.

Chandler has kept a very low profile in recent years but fellow alleged molestation victim, celebrity choreographer Wade Robson, is now searching for him in the hopes he can testify in his ongoing lawsuit in 2013 claiming he suffered years of sexual abuse after he was groomed by two of Jackson's companies.

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A post shared by Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) on May 13, 2014 at 7:24pm PDT

Lawyers for Robson, 34, and Jimmy Safechuck, another companion of Jackson who says he was abused by the star as a child, are searching the UK and other European countries trying to find Chandler.

"Wade and Jimmy want to look Jordie in the eye and talk to him about what they suffered," a source told the New York Daily News. "'They feel that they may appeal to him to finally tell his story."

The source said that Chandler has fled the US to avoid the investigators.

Lead attorney Vince Finaldi said Chandler was a "key piece of the puzzle".

"We're not going to stop until we find him," he said.

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A post shared by Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) on Feb 23, 2014 at 11:46pm PST

As Robson's lawyers were unable to track Jordan down for a deposition last year, they turned to his sister Lily Chandler instead, hoping she would be able to provide childhood accounts or information about her brother's whereabouts.

Lily, however, has tried to steer clear of the legal battle for fears that she will stoke the ire of Jackson's fans, who have directed numerous threats at her family throughout the years.

In 1993, Evan Chandler launched bombshell accusations that the King of Pop had molested his son Jordan, then aged 13.

Jackson had become close to the entire Chandler family after his limousine broke down in Santa Monica.

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This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.

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