A judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by choreographer Wade Robson, who alleged that he was molested as a child by Michael Jackson.
Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff did not rule on the veracity of Robson’s claims but said two companies owned by the late pop star can’t be held liable.
Robson, now 35, testified in Jackson’s defence at the singer’s 2005 criminal trial (at which Jackson was acquitted) but claimed in 2013 that he had been molested by the singer over a seven-year period. Jackson died in 2009.
Howard Weitzman, lawyer for the Jackson estate, said the judge made the right ruling.
He told the Associated Press: “In my opinion Mr. Robson's allegations, made 20 plus years after they supposedly occurred and years after Mr. Robson testified twice under oath — including in front of a jury — that Michael Jackson had never done anything wrong to him, was always about the money rather than a search for the truth.”
Robson’s attorney Vince Finaldi told reporters he plans to appeal the decision.