Notice that you have to plow through a lot of verbage to find out that dad WILLIAM MICHAEL JACKSON obtained custody of his daughters "when they were children"--and it appears he began sexually abusing them almost immediately. It's no surprise that pedophiles and molesters want custody--much easier to do what you want when the pesky mother is out of the way, isn't it?
Check out the research from the liz library:
Fact: "[S]ociologists have found that the factor most decisive to a girl's increased sexual vulnerability was living in a household with adult males after her parents' separation. This increased risk held true whether that male was the natural father or someone brought into the family by the child's mother... Research findings also confirm that stepfathers represent a greater proportion of abusers than their incidence in the general population would predict. [However, d]aughters living in their father's custody are equally at risk. A national survey of sexual abuse risk factors found "markedly higher risk" for girls following their parents' divorce, "particularly when living alone with [their] father."[C]ompared to children living with only females after separation, children living with males in their household after separation "were more than 7 times more likely to be abused. Girls living with males in the household after separation are not only at a markedly higher risk for sexual abuse, but that risk is substantial: Bolen found that 53% were sexually abused."
Wilson, Robin Fretwell "CHILDREN AT RISK: THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF FEMALE CHILDREN AFTER DIVORCE," Cornell Law Review, 86 Cornell L. Rev. 251, January, 2001.
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/site-index/site-index-body.html#Research Myths and Facts
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_23ad44ac-76aa-548a-adbf-f9a68b9851e5.html
Trial starts for father accused of child abuse
Kim Smith Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star Posted: Sunday, November 21, 2010 12:00 am
The first time her father asked her for a sexual favor, she was 7 or 8 years old, the woman told jurors.
He told her it was their "little secret," and she was "Daddy's little girl."
As the years and the abuse went on, she didn't tell anyone.
At first it was because she felt special: She had something her sister didn't have, the 22-year-old testified.
Then, she was scared she would lose the only person she felt close to. Later, she said, she was was too ashamed.
But by October 2004 - a few weeks before her 16th birthday - she'd had enough.
On Dec. 4, 2006, William Michael Jackson was indicted on several counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sexual conduct with a child. Both women are named as victims.
Jackson's first trial ended with a hung jury. His second trial began Tuesday.
Jackson's public defenders, John Sando and Matt Maloney, maintain their client's innocence, saying the claims were made by dysfunctional and rebellious teenagers angry with their father.
The 22-year-old spent hours Thursday and Friday describing several encounters she says took place with her father.
The women in the case are not being identified because the Star does not identify possible sex-crime victims.
Her father gained custody of his daughter when they were children, and they lived in Marana and later moved to Tucson.
As she got older and began to date, her father became jealous, the woman said. She refused to have sex with him any longer; they argued more frequently and she began to rebel.
In April 2005, both were arrested following a domestic-violence incident.
She reconciled with her mother and moved to Oregon within days.
Under cross-examination from Maloney, the woman admitted she didn't like doing chores; she was often jealous of her father's girlfriends; and she resented the restrictions he placed on her dating.
She denied making up a sexual- molestation claim against a roommate to divert attention from the fact she was caught with a 20-year-old man when she was 16. She also denied ever telling her father she was going to make his life a "living hell."
When Maloney pointed out that the woman consistently told a Child Protective Services worker in August 2004 that nothing untoward had happened with her father, the woman repeatedly insisted she lied throughout the interview.
The trial is expected to wrap up next week.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com