MJ indicted for child molesting

A grand jury in Santa Barbara indicted Michael Jackson on Wednesday on charges of child molesting, making it a virtual certainty that he will stand trial in a case brought by prosecutors in December, officials said.

Jackson had originally been accused of seven counts of sexually abusing a boy, now 14, and of two counts of giving him alcohol as part of the molesting. One of Jackson’s lawyers, Benjamin Brafman, issued a statement on Wednesday shortly before news of the sealed indictment broke, saying that his client ‘‘is not just presumed to be innocent, but is in fact innocent’’.

Jackson would appear for an arraignment in Santa Maria, on April 30 and will plead not guilty, Brafman said.

Brafman also noted that an indictment ‘‘is merely a formal accusation’’. —(NYT)