Jan. 4, 2005 — On Dec. 17, 2004, Michael Jackson hosted 200 children at his Neverland Ranch. His public relations spokesperson, Raymone Bain, said the kids were brought by six different civic, charitable, and church organizations — and that the event had nothing to do with Jackson's upcoming child-molestation trial.

We wanted to know more about the groups and why they made the decision to send children to Neverland at this sensitive time, six weeks before the start of Jackson's criminal trial.

Ms. Bain was less than helpful.

Our investigation of this special Dec. 17 event uncovered the following disturbing facts:

• More than half the groups cited by Ms. Bain do not exist as named.
• Two of the groups indignantly denied any involvement in the Neverland event.  One of them was a state-sponsored group helping kids with "special needs."
• Ms. Bain said each group paid their own transportation to Neverland.  However, the ONE group we found that actually attended the party told us they did NOT pay for transportation to the ranch.
• This same group also contradicted Ms. Bain's contention that these children's parties stem from groups' requesting their children visit. This group told Court TV they had been solicited to come to the December party. 
• Selected media were invited to film and report on this pretrial event — unlike any other previous children's party we could find.
• Although Ms. Bain said Mr. Jackson rarely attends these "regular" kids' parties at Neverland, on Dec. 17, he made a point to appear while news cameras were rolling. 
• And, most shocking of all, Court TV discovered that one of the groups Ms. Bain said provided children for the event is headed by Minnie Williams Foxx, the longtime companion of Tom Mesereau. Why is the girlfriend of Jackson's criminal defense attorney helping to rustle up young party guests for Jackson if, as Ms. Bain insists, the party had nothing to do with the trial?  

Read on for details of our investigation.

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Some stories that cross our desks here at the Court TV Investigative Unit make our antennae go up.  So it was when we heard Michael Jackson had invited a handful of select reporters to cover an upcoming Christmastime party for kids at his Neverland Ranch.  There was a flurry of negative reaction to that news and questions about whether it wasn't just a publicity stunt to get much-needed good PR for Jackson.  

After drying our tears because we had not been among the anointed media to be invited, we began to look at who did attend.  On hand to chronicle the activities of the 200 children at the party was Michael Jackson's biggest television cheerleader, Geraldo Rivera, as well as reporters from two of Santa Barbara's largest circulation newspapers.  With a strict gag order in place, what better way for a celebrity to reach the potential jury pool than to get a hit (or two) in the hometown newspaper? 

But, again, according to Ms. Bain, this event and its surrounding media coverage had absolutely nothing to do with the entertainer's upcoming trial. 

In fact, Bain maintained that it was all just routine — that many charitable and civic groups write and request a visit to Neverland, and an events staff arranges from two to four days per month for the ranch to host such parties. The groups are responsible for their own transportation costs to Neverland, she said, and the ranch provides free entertainment and refreshments. 

Routine?  We don't think so.  We could uncover no event before this one where the TV and print media were invited in to report on a children's party.  In fact, the usual routine is for all cameras to be checked at the front security gate, and many visitors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement before they can enter the property. But on Dec. 17, 2004, not only were several news cameras allowed in to capture the children frolicking on the Neverland grounds, they also got to record Michael Jackson himself making a rare personal appearance.  Dressed in an impeccable black suit with swirling white embroidery at the shoulders (and the ubiquitous umbrella), Jackson basked in the adoration of the children as the cameras rolled.  

"I and my family are wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful, Happy New Year!" Jackson said to the adoring children.  Routine?  Jackson, we are informed, does not usually attend the three parties a month given for such groups.

Not routine.  Just because Jackson's representatives keep saying the timing of the upcoming criminal trial had nothing to do with Jackson's camera-ready closeup, that doesn't make it so.

Raymone Bain's press release for the event listed the children as being sponsored by six groups:

1. Christ Christian Church, Compton, Calif.

2. Mt. Calvary Assembly Apostolic Faith Church, Los Angeles 

3. Hold Your Image Youth Organization, South Central, Los Angeles

4. Canyon Country, Affiliated with First AME Church, Los Angeles

4. Children with special needs of Santa Barbara County

6.  St. Timothy's Day School, Compton

We tried to contact these groups and were surprised to learn that most did not exist as named.  We checked the names, phone records, Web sites, and the Los Angeles County Registrar's Office of business record listings, as well as the state attorney general's listing of corporations. 

Let's start with the easiest ones first:

1. The closest match to Christ Christian Church, Compton, Calif., is Christ Christian Home Missionary Baptist Church in Compton, which has not returned several phone messages.

2. The closest match to Mt. Calvary Assembly Apostolic Faith Church, Los Angeles, is the Apostolic Faith Church, which has no phone listing.

3. Hold Your Image Youth Group doesn't even have a close match.

4. We called the L.A. headquarters of the First AME Church and, despite the fact that Tom Mesereau worships there, Pastor John Hunter and Rev. Brenda Lamoth, as well as other church leaders, gathered around a speakerphone to strongly deny they participated in providing children for the Neverland bash, and to say they had no knowledge of — or affiliation with — a group called Canyon Country.

5. The unnamed organization representing children with special needs, referred to in Bain's press release, turns out to be, apparently, according to a Dec. 18 article by Dawn Hobbs in the Santa Barbara News Press, the "Santa Barbara County Special Education Group." Hobbs quotes Lillian Tolbert, "a staff member" of that group, as saying, "I think this is just wonderful ... It's inspiring for the children who would never even imagine coming to a place like this. They have the freedom here to be who they are and to express themselves."

We called the head of Ms. Tolbert's group and questioned Florene Bednersh, assistant superintendent of the Santa Barbara Country Education Office, about the event. She categorically denied that the county had anything to do with a group of children visiting Neverland. Furthermore, she said it would be inappropriate for one department of the county to be sending children to Neverland while another department was trying to prosecute Jackson for crimes against children. Bednersh told Court TV she planned to have a serious talk with Lillian Tolbert about the whole matter. 

Obvious questions: Which children did she take? Were they special-needs children from the state-run program?  Were parents fully informed about where their children were going, and did they think the state program was sponsoring it? Were the legally required parent permission slips filled out?

6. "St. Timothy's Day School" was not listed anywhere, but we located a St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Compton, and spoke to Reverend Stephen Mumgoma.  He confirmed that his church had sponsored 13 children and adults to attend the party. The Reverend said the church paid nothing toward transportation.  When we asked Reverend Mumgoma how they had come to be invited to Neverland, he told us they were approached by a female community organizer. Asked to identify the woman, he refused.  So, who was this mystery woman who was drumming up guests for the Jackson play date? 

When Court TV went back to Raymone Bain for clarification, she sent us this terse e-mail on Dec. 22 at 5:47 p.m.:

The names of the organizations listed in my press release are correct... In addition, as an oversight, one organization was omitted from the list:  Collier Image Studios... Children with "special needs" of Santa Barbara County did visit Neverland on Friday, December 17, 2004.  However, out of respect for the parents and children, and because of confidentiality, I did not name the organization of which they are affiliated... I personally believe that it is inappropriate for you to contact guests of Neverland or to, in fact, even ask for the kind of information that you have requested.

Suddenly, we had another group to check out:  Collier Image Studios, LLC.

But first, a note about the arrogance and hubris of Bain's reply.  Since when does a paid PR mouthpiece get to dictate what kind of questions the media can ask?  Especially the mouthpiece of an accused pedophile.  It was Team Jackson that proudly announced the names of the visiting groups.  Are reporters simply supposed to take as gospel everything that comes out of Jackson's PR machine?  What kind of reporters would we be if we didn't ask questions?  Is it now inappropriate, by edict of Raymone Bain, for the free press to approach anyone who has ever been a guest at Neverland? What royal protection from normal free-press inquiries does Bain believe having been a guest at Neverland confers?

So, back to the hunt for Collier Image Studios, LLC.  We discovered that the registering officer for the corporation is attorney Brian Oxman, the same Brian Oxman who sits at Michael Jackson's criminal defense table and who was twice fined or admonished by Judge Melville in the Jackson case. Now, the most stunning find: The head corporate officer of Collier Image Studios turns out to be a woman named Minnie Foxx (formerly Minnie Williams, according to earlier corporate records we found). That group has a business address on West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, but no phone listing. However, when we checked the residential listings for Minnie Foxx, we got a Los Angeles address, but no phone listing. When we checked other phone listings at that same residential address, up popped the name of...wait for it...Tom Mesereau!  Minnie Foxx Williams is widely known to be the longtime companion of Tom Mesereau, Jackson's lead criminal defense attorney.

Whoa! What gives?

If the Dec. 17 Neverland play date had nothing to do with the trial, what is the life partner of Tom Mesereau doing helping to organize it, and whose children did she bring?

When we finally reached Mr. Mesereau two weeks after the party to ask him about all this, he said only, "We really don't want to talk to you. Thank you." And he hung up. 

 * * *

In the meantime, we decided to give Raymone Bain another chance to explain things. We sent her another e-mail on Dec. 29 at 4:21 p.m., which said:

We must frankly tell you that only one of the organizations you listed in the press release says they sent children to Neverland on December 17. Reverend Mumgoma of St. Timothy's Church was quite effusive in his praise not only for the Neverland event but for Michael Jackson as well.

That is why it so puzzles us, as we try to put together an internet article on Mr. Jackson's party, why you would withhold information that could show your client in such a positive light...

We would hate to have to go to press saying you gave us incorrect information and then refused to correct it for the record.  We here at Court TV always strive for the most complete information we can get.  Can't you please help?

Raymone Bain's terse reply came the next night:

The organizations that were listed in the press release do exist... I stand by my earlier email, and my response to you.

In other words, it is the truth because Raymone Bain says it is. However, mysteries remain:  Where is Hold Your Image Youth Organization and the Canyon Country group? Who is the female community organizer who approached St. Timothy's for child guests to go to Neverland?  And most importantly, who were those children at the party, and where did they really come from?  These are legitimate questions.

More from Diane Dimond on the Michael Jackson case