Abuse lawsuit against Michael Jackson’s estate dismissed

The ruling from judge Mitchell L Beckloff resolves one of the last major claims against the holdings of the “King of Pop”, who died in 2009 aged 50.

It was decided that the two Jackson-owned corporations that were the remaining defendants in the case were not liable for Wade Robson’s exposure to the singer.

The judge did not rule on the credibility of the allegations themselves.

Mr Robson’s lawyer, Vince Finaldi, said his client plans to appeal against the judgement.

The 35-year-old Australian native has worked for Britney Spears and NSYNC and met Jackson when he was five.

Back in 2005 he testified in Jackson’s defence at the Thriller singer’s criminal trial, saying he had spent the night at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch more than 20 times, usually sleeping in the star’s room, but had never been molested.

Jackson was acquitted in the high-profile trial.

But in 2013, Mr Robson sued the Jackson estate over what his lawyers described as molestation over the course of seven years.

Two years later, a court ruled Mr Robson had filed his lawsuit too late to get any of Jackson’s estate.

This decision left two remaining defendants, both of them corporate entities owned by the singer while he was alive – MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures.

In his ruling, the judge said they could not be held responsible for Mr Robson’s exposure to Jackson, in the way a school or the Boy Scouts can be held liable for bringing together an abusive adult and a victim.

Howard Weitzman, Jackson’s lawyer, said he “believes the court made the correct decision in dismissing Wade Robson’s claim against it”. news.sky.com