Michael Jackson’s alleged victims have requested access to nude photos taken by the police.
The singer’s accusers have applied to unseal records that contain photos of him with no clothes on – and lawyers for Michael’s estate have fought back.
In March, Wade Robson, 41, and James Safechuck,46, issued a subpoena requesting access to “photographs of Michael Jackson’s genitalia and naked body taken by police.”
The photographs were taken by police in 1993, around the same time as Michael was accused by a 13-year-old boy of sexual abuse.
The pop star’s legal team has now argued that the “highly sensitive” and “private” documents had been “sealed by a court-entered protective order from the Santa Barbara Superior Court”.
The team went on to call the plaintiffs’ request “an egregious violation” and “simply beyond the pale.”
“The photographs Plaintiffs seek were not taken willingly by Mr. Jackson; they were the result of a court-ordered search based on a false statement in what became a discredited criminal investigation,” the attorneys wrote.
“To allow Plaintiffs to exploit that series of circumstances to their benefit by obtaining those photographs now adds a second defilement to the first.”
In 2013 and 2014 respectively, Wade and James Robson accused the King of Pop of sexually abusing them as children.
Both men are now suing the deceased singer’s companies, arguing they are liable for allowing the alleged abuse to take place.