Expert Testifies on Sex Abuse

A psychologist testified Monday at Michael Jackson’s child-molestation trial that it was common for sexually abused children to get details of their abuse wrong and to conceal it, sometimes for decades.

Prosecutors put Dr. Anthony Urquiza, a child psychologist from Sacramento, on the stand as they sought to explain to the jury why Jackson’s young accuser had given different accounts of the alleged molestation at different times.

Before bringing his allegations to Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives, the accuser, now 15, had denied to a school official that the pop singer had molested him.

He also has offered varying accounts of when the alleged abuse took place.

“The research supports that they are not likely to be consistent,” Urquiza said. “They can goof up the details.”

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., Urquiza acknowledged that children who make false allegations also can be inconsistent. Even mental health professionals can have difficulty distinguishing between children who have been molested and those who are lying, he said.

Also testifying Monday was a former flight attendant, Lauren Wallace, who said she had frequently poured wine into Diet Coke cans for Jackson on chartered flights. She said she was told that Jackson liked to conceal drinking from his children, who often accompanied him.

Jackson’s accuser said the pop singer had given him wine in a Diet Coke can while on a chartered flight from Miami to California. Wallace was not on that flight.

Testimony is to resume today with Louise Palanker, a Los Angeles comedian who said she had given $20,000 to the accuser’s family after learning that the boy had cancer.

Mesereau has alleged that the accuser’s family had used the boy’s illness to solicit money from celebrities.