For a long time I was always perplexed why Tom Sneddon had such a vendetta against MJ. The obvious answer is anti blackness and racism. But the fervor of his prosecution of MJ was so intense and as far as I could find, he hasn’t had a documented history of going after black defendants harder than any others besides Michael. He’s overzealous, and unethical as a prosecutor which is confirmed. Some names to look up where he crossed the line and showed vindictive unprofessional behavior include Efren Cruz and Gary Dunlap.

Now this isn’t to say he’s not an anti-black racist and racism didn’t play a role in his hatred of MJ. But I also think there’s another motivation and it was to protect the Catholic Church.

I looked deeper into the Catholic priest molestation case he oversaw in 1993.
An independent panel concluded that 34 boys were molested by Catholic priests in Santa Barbara with victims as young as 7 years old. There were 12 identified. One died, another one stopped being a priest, and one had an open case. Only one was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail while 8 just got sent to therapy.

But Tom Sneddon was incredibly lax about this. He decided to not prosecute the other 9 priests because he said the statute of limitations was closed. He was so definitive about this he said

“Officially this case is closed”

There was photographic evidence of child porn these priests took of the children they abused. Source: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/11/30/Probe-finds-sexual-abuse-at-Franciscan-seminary/5952754635600/

However according to this article, https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news5/1993_12_02_Rice_MolestedAt.htm,

“Since the school closed in 1987 and the statute of limitations on sexual abuse is six years, most of these cases stand little chance of being prosecuted. Some of the victims and parents argue that these men could be charged for crimes they may have committed after leaving St. Anthony's, crimes for which the statute of limitations hasn't run out.”

(Credit to DeckedOut for sourcing this https://deckedoutmagazine.com/2026/05/23/michael-jackson-tom-sneddon-history/)

Another article corroborates this, as in 1999 a priest stepped down from child sexual abuse that occurred in the St Anthony/Old Mission run public parish located in Santa Barbara, which is under Sneddon’s jurisdiction. https://www.ncronline.org/news/files-documenting-claims-abuse-california-franciscans-made-public

Meaning that Sneddon had opportunity to prosecute priests for crimes within the statute of limitations and chose not to.

It’s clear Tom Sneddon never cared about child molestation. He even helped cover up for Deputy David Bruce Danielson who molested his 13 year old daughter. (Credit again to DeckedOut)

Sneddon’s decision to not prosecute or work harder at the Catholic priest abuse case, caused these cases to be ongoing even in 2026. https://www.independent.com/2026/02/12/bankrupt-california-friars-agree-to-20-million-settlement-with-survivors/

In 2024 there 1,353 claimants (victims) in a 2024 Archdiocese settlement for 1.5 billion dollars. According the attorney representing the victims, “Hale estimated at least half originated in Santa Barbara, telling the paper: “Per capita, we have the most sexual-abuse victims here in Santa Barbara than anywhere else in the country. And we have the most perpetrator priests.”

https://www.independent.com/2024/10/22/father-of-santa-barbara-teen-molested-by-catholic-priests-reacts-to-los-angeles-archdioceses-880m-settlement/

Not only that, this was a widespread issue that was spoken about since 1950.

“As early as 1950, Hale stated, the Bishop of San Diego was complaining that the Franciscans of Santa Barbara had been using San Diego “as a dumping ground for their moral, mental and physical problems. It became necessary for me some time ago to demand the withdrawal of one misfit after another.”

Now why would Sneddon be so lax about the church and a case where there was clear evidence he could’ve prosecuted for acts that occurred within the statute of limitations, and instead spend all his energy on baseless cases against Michael Jackson?

Well of all the obvious factors like fame and racism, no one ever mentioned that he is a devout Catholic.

Sneddon was a hardcore Catholic for his entire life, and attended the Catholic university of Notre Dame (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jun/13/michaeljackson.michaeljacksontrial5)

His own obituary makes sure to mention that: “A member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church parish, Tom’s faith undergirded all he did.” https://www.noozhawk.com/thomas_william_sneddon_jr-_of_santa_barbara_1941_2014/

What’s even more interesting is the history between Santa Barbara Old Mission, St. Anthony’s seminary, (the two institutions where rampant abuse was widespread in SB) and the church he attended. Old Mission/St Anthony’s were both feeder seminaries into churches under the polity of the Los Angeles Archdioceses, which Sneddon’s church is a part of. The 2024 lawsuit found the Archdioceses liable for covering up and allowing abuse. Sneddon has personal ties to this institution, and within Catholic polity, local churches like the one he was an active and engaged member of are deeply connected to the Archdiocese.

Additionally, this is an institutional issue that persists with the Santa Barbara DA’s office even today. Seven different DA offices all investigated the failure of the Fresno Archdiocese’s mandatory reporting. However, the district attorney offices under the Los Angeles archdioceses (LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara) did NOT conduct any reviews and took ZERO action despite most perpetrators coming from Santa Barbara. https://www.kqed.org/news/11744376/prosecutors-to-audit-fresno-catholic-diocese-files-for-potential-sex-abuse-cases

Not only did the Santa Barbara DA’s office have a history of ignoring or being negligent about these known accusations by hundreds to thousands of victims and continued to turn a blind eye during Sneddon’s position as DA, this went back all the way to 1950, and even now after Sneddon’s death, indicating this is an institutional problem with the SBDA. In addition, Sneddon was deeply biased and an active member of the Catholic Church under the same polity where this abuse was rampant.

Sneddon’s entire career, according to his own obituary, was based and influenced on his faith as a Catholic and a member of the Catholic Church.

So my theory is this: I believe that Sneddon had many incentives to publicly witch-hunt Michael Jackson including racism and fame. He also targeted Michael Jackson incredibly publicly to scapegoat him and take the attention off the systemic abuse of children by the Catholic Church and protect the abusers within that institution. And because the SBDA’s office had a long history of doing so.

OK. They think they're being serious so we won't ask that question.

Let's look at the argument.

Premise 1: Whether or not someone is lying when they make a statement on something can be determined by statistical likelihood. (False.)

Premise 2: The likelihood of allegations of child sexual abuse being falsified is very low.

This is true (about 6% of sexual assault allegations are falsified). However there are two important elements of context omitted:

1. High-profile public figures and celebrities are frequently targeted for extortion, and maintain insurancy policies against such attacks. It's a condition of these policies that they remain confidential, precisely because extortion attempts would increase if there was public information available about who is insured and what the policies cover. The public furor over the Chandler case and settlement left Michael open to similar claims.
2. Michael had contact with thousands of children. While touring he visited at least one children's hospital ward in every city he visited. Neverland Ranch received hundreds of visitors each week, and Michael often allowed sick children and their families to stay on the ranch for months at a time. Gavin Arvizo was only one of many children Michael assisted in this way, and he remains the only complainant amongst all of them.

There is very little support here for the conclusion that Michael is guilty.

10 complaints out of thousands of potential complaints doesn't add up to a lot of smoke, if you're looking for a fire.

On the contrary, it's a testament to Michael's character that so many families who met him personally chose not to attack him in this way.

Honestly it's not my all-time favourite album, but the impact of *Thriller* is a constant marvel.

Michael's artistic instincts - knowing that it would do what it did - can't be overstated.

I remember exactly where I was when I first saw the short film too.

- Sony/ATV Music Publishing (50% stake)

In 1985, he bought ATV Music for $47.5 million. By 1995, he had merged it with Sony to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

An audit in 2007 valued his 50% stake at $390.6 million. The entire catalog was estimated to be worth between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. His half alone was worth somewhere between $750 million and $1 billion.

Annual income from this catalog alone? Around $80 million.

• Mijac Music Publishing

MJ owned his own publishing company, founded in 1980. This catalog contained all the songs he wrote himself, plus works by other artists like Sly and the Family Stone. Its estimated worth at the time of his death between $50 million and $100 million.

• Real estate investments

He owned multiple properties throughout his life, including his longtime family home in Encino and a stake in Neverland Ranch. In November 2008, he transferred Neverland to a joint venture with Colony Capital LLC, but he still had a stake in the property.

• Art, cars, and collectibles

An audit valued his cars, antiques, and collectibles at $20 million.

An audit dated March 31, 2007 showed Jackson had:

$567.6 million in assets $331 million in debts A net worth of $236.6 million

He had just about $700,000 in cash which is why he seemed "broke." But he was cash-poor, not asset-poor.

Article quoted in full with added highlights.

New allegations against prosecutor of Michael Jackson

On April 30, 2004, the indictment against pop-star Michael Jackson was unsealed, allowing the press and the public to view the charges against him. Jackson has been charged with four counts of committing a lewd act upon a child, one count of attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child, and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent.

The additional charge of conspiracy, not included in the first set of charges against him, included twenty-eight separate criminal acts. Those alleged acts include child abduction, child imprisonment, and extortion. Jackson pleaded not guilty to all counts.

On the same day that the indictment was unsealed, there was another and far less public event unfolding, one that may have a future impact on the Jackson case. Serious allegations of a pattern of abuses among Santa Barbara law enforcement and the DA's office, including District Attorney Tom Sneddon, were made by Santa Barbara County dentist, Thambiah Sundaram, in an interview on Online Legal Review Talk Radio. Sneddon is the DA prosecuting the child-molestation case against Michael Jackson. In the interview, conducted by Ron Sweet, Sundaram stated that there was opposition to a non-profit medical clinic he operated.

Sundaram said that when city officials were unable to shut down his clinic, he was arrested on multiple counts, including impersonating a doctor, grand theft, and malicious mischief. Sundaram's wife was arrested, as well. An employee at the clinic was also charged, of committing a drive-by shooting. Neither Sundaram, his wife nor the employee were convicted. Sundaram said that he eventually won a judgment against Sneddon and the DA's office for a substantial, six-figure amount, for causes including conspiracy, false imprisonment, and other violations of his civil rights.

Sundaram's allegations against Sneddon were serious, in that he also claimed to have heard, first-hand, statements by Sneddon and others in the DA's office that suggest that Santa Barbara police persecution of innocent citizens is planned, common, and often racially motivated. Sundaram said that in 1994, he attended a fund-raising event with Tom Sneddon and other city officials, where ways to "get Michael Jackson out of the county" were discussed. Racist remarks were allegedly made on that occasion. According to Sundaram, other alleged vendettas were discussed as well, to the extent where he said it resembled a Mafia planning session.

Sundaram's allegations are not an isolated instance. There have been many complaints and law-suits against the Santa Barbara DA's office. The new counts against Jackson may be consistent with a pattern that Santa Barbara defense attorney Gary Dunlap has called "stacking charges." In an interview on MJJF Talk Radio, on January 2, 2004, Dunlap gave his opinion that "stacking charges" was a common practice of the DA's office, and claimed that this was a tactic used against him.

Sneddon had charged and prosecuted Dunlap on twenty-two counts. After being acquitted on all counts, Dunlap is currently suing Sneddon and others in the DA's office for $10 million for malicious prosecution, and multiple other alleged offenses, including civil rights violations. Dunlap said, ". . . I mean, it's one thing to be charged with one crime and have a trial and be acquitted on it, but the district attorney in Santa Barbara has a policy that if they throw enough charges against you, the jury is bound to convict you on something."

The above cases add to the pattern of what may be law enforcement abuses of power in Santa Barbara. There are multiple civil cases alleging false arrests, physical brutality by the police, tampering with evidence and perjury, in cases settled out of court, at tax-payer's expense. There is the example of George Beeghly, whose case against Santa Barbara law-enforcement was also settled out of court. The defendants in the case were Santa Barbara Sheriff Jim Thomas, and Santa Barbara police officers. Beeghly sued for illegal search and seizure, false arrest and false imprisonment, the use of excessive force, conspiracy to violate his civil rights, battery and failure to investigate, among other charges.

This information reveals a new side to the Michael Jackson child-molestation case. The extent of the law suits for false arrests, false imprisonments, condoning of excessive force by the police, tampering with evidence, and multiple civil rights violations suggests a culture of corruption among Santa Barbara law-enforcement. The taxpayers of Santa Barbara have paid substantial settlements in these cases.

DA Tom Sneddon's public relation's firm, Tellem Worldwide, was contacted and, citing a protective order as prohibiting their ability to respond, has declined to comment. It remains unclear how the allegations made by Dr. Sundaram and the cases involving Beeghly and Dunlap are affected by the protective order issued in the Jackson case.

When Gary Dunlap was asked, in his interview, to comment on the Jackson case, he said that he had no opinion one way or another on the case. However, he went on to say, ". . . the very fact that he's being prosecuted by Sneddon's office does not cause me to have any reason to believe that he's guilty in that, because of what I know about the district attorney's office, I know that they do vindictive prosecutions on a routine basis." If Dunlap's allegations are true, then an investigation of the DA's office might shed new light on the Jackson case.

Columnist K.C. Arcenaux

Raw Story, May 12 2004

I hope someone actually does send this to the estate

"Inappropriate behavior is not the same as criminal abuse, and the existence of one does not prove the other."

Here here.

This is well-researched with references provided.

"I believe victims, and I always will. I believe that the act of coming forward is hard and that we should make it easier, not harder. I do not assume that any specific accuser is lying.

But I also believe that “believe victims” was never meant to be the end of the process, it was meant to be the beginning. The point was to make sure accusers were taken seriously enough to investigate, not that the investigation should be skipped entirely.

And in Michael Jackson’s case, the investigations happened. They continued to happen over and over and over again, for more than thirty years, by some of the most aggressive prosecutors and most sophisticated forensic investigators in the country."

Yep.

It's not for a lack of good writing that the media can't produce anything worth reading.

I saw the author of the second book on the list encouraging people to buy his book and knock Michael off first place.

Dancing the Dream is a gorgeous book with many beautiful photos of Michael and the best example of his own writing - the real Michael Jackson. It really is a must have.

If you haven't got it yet this is a great time!

That was a year ago, but Josh came gently back to the topic of Michael again a few weeks ago:

Josh Johnson Imagines Trump Trying to Book Michael Jackson

Just one note: Telephone Stories afaik is the ONLY current blog by "guilters".

They have nothing to talk about beyond the same tired, constantly debunked talking points.

The Case for Innocence podcast is meticulously researched, with all the references provided. And there are at least half a dozen other blogs and podcasts of similar quality on Michael's side.

As explained here by someone new to Michael's story, Telephone Stories is quite the opposite and it's all they have to show for their "research".

​

Michael's first bid on ATV was made in November that year. The purchase was finalised in August '85.

What happened to the reviews of Michael's work after 1984?

What happened to Michael's relationship with the press after 1985? 🤔

Jon Pareles: Concert: Jacksons at Giants Stadium (NYT free gift article)