California, Nov 19: Police and prosecutors on Tuesday swooped on pop icon Michael Jackson's "Neverland" ranch in California, officers said, amid media reports that a 12-year-old boy had accused the star of abuse.
"At 8:30 am (2200 IST) Santa Barbara sheriff's department and district attorney's office investigators executed a search warrant at the Neverland Ranch in connection with a criminal matter," sheriff's Commander Jeff Meyer told AFP.
"As of now, there is no further information regarding the cause or the circumstances regarding the service of the search warrant, which was approved by a judge," he said.
Jackson's lawyers said they had no idea of the reason for the high-profile search of the "King of Pop's" palace, while his publicist said the superstar was out of town when the raid began.
But Court TV and several other US media outlets reported that the dramatic police swoop was in connection with an abuse charge from a 12-year-old boy.
The raid on the reclusive superstar's country mansion comes nine months after prosecutors investigated his admission in an interview that he slept in the same bed as a 12-year-old boy before dismissing claims of wrongdoing.
But Court TV said the latest swoop was not connected to the earlier investigation.
Prosecutors in Santa Barbara, a town about 160 kilometers north of Los Angeles near which the eternally-youthful Jackson, 45, has lived for years, declined to comment on the raid.
Jackson's publicist in Los Angeles said Jackson was not in his mansion, surrounded by a welter of theme park rides, at the time of the raid and had no idea why it was being conducted. Bureau Report