DOCUMENT: Crime

Bizarre Jackson Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Louisiana man cites repressed memories of 1984 attack

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Bizarre Jackson Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Bizarre Jackson Sex Abuse Lawsuit Louisiana man cites repressed memories of 1984 attack

NOVEMBER 4--Oh, yeah, this sounds real plausible: Citing the recent unearthing of repressed memories, a Louisiana man Monday sued Michael Jackson for sexual molestation, abuse that allegedly occurred over a nine-day period 20 years ago, when the accuser was 18. In the below complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, Joseph Bartucci, now 38, claims that the King of Pop assaulted him during May 1984, with the attacks occurring in a limousine in Louisiana and an "unknown building" in California. In addition to the sexual assaults, Bartucci alleges that Jackson--who was 25 at the time--cut him with a razor blade, punctured his chest with steel wire, and forced him to consume "mood altering substances." Bartucci's complaint, filed on his behalf by an established New Orleans law firm, notes that his recollection of the decades-old molestation was jogged by a November 2003 Court TV special about Jackson's ongoing criminal case. Until that point, the lawsuit notes, Bartucci was "disabled and under such a condition of mental derangement as to actually bar him from comprehending" his legal right to sue Jackson. The complaint does not specify the amount of compensatory, exemplary, and punitive damages Bartucci is seeking. (9 pages)