INVESTIGATION Jackson faces new claims of child abuse

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Detectives are investigating a new allegation of child abuse against pop star Michael Jackson involving a person who claims to have been victimized in the late 1980s, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Jackson has pleaded innocent to child molestation charges involving another accuser in Santa Barbara County. Jackson attorney Benjamin Brafman said he was unaware of the Los Angeles Police Department investigation.
"We have never been informed by the LAPD of any investigation that they are conducting of Michael Jackson," he said. "I would point out that since I have been involved in this case I have addressed literally dozens of completely baseless rumors on a daily basis, and this appears to be just another one of them."
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office asked the LAPD to investigate the new allegation a month ago, said Mary Grady, commander of the department's public information office.
Few details
"The victim alleges the acts took place in the city of Los Angeles in the late 1980s," she said.
The allegations are being investigated by the Child Protective Section of the department's Juvenile Division. Grady declined to elaborate on such details as the age or sex of the accuser.
Sandi Gibbons, Los Angeles district attorney's spokeswoman, declined to comment.
"This is a matter under investigation by the LAPD," she said. "We are not the investigative agency."
Santa Barbara County prosecutors did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening.