EMM,
Exactly. We can't know for sure if the guy was a pedophile but there are a lot of signs he seemed to lean that way. Aside from being an older single man who routinely invites kids into his bedroom, here are some other red flags that, taken collectively, look pretty goshdarn suspicious IMO ...
Michael continued to have his adult-free sleep-overs even after a serious accusation. The guy hits me as odd, but not stupid. Pedophiles often risk legally questionable behavior w/kids, even after being accused of molestation or rape, or being convicted.
Pedophiles also tend to court women for the main purpose of being around her kids (or to have them). And often seem to lack interest in adult woman (or men).
They tend to see children as their developmental equals, or claim they see it that way (Michael stated that in at least one interview I can recall).
They often were physically and/or sexually abused themselves.
They often have poor social boundaries with kids ... am thinking of that interview with Bashir where Michael is holding hands with the boy; fingers intertwined like lovers. Or Michael calling kids up at 3AM to have a chat ... The way he described the kids sleeping over ("charming", how he'd "light the fireplace"). My subjective opinion is his language often described eros rather than agape and his obsessive love of kids to the exclusion of adults was more than a little disturbing.
And that alarm system outside his bedroom ... I don't know. But the most disturbing thing IMO was that parents thoughtlessly rented their kids out to him for overnights.
What you said.
And here are some
more:
He often waxed poetic about the beauty and innocence and purity of children. Language typical of a pedophile.
He invited children of both genders to his home but the boys seemed to outnumber the girls...and he displayed very little interest in the girls. If he loved children so much, why didn't he pay attention to these children's sisters?
The boys he took an interest in were often of the same specific age and the same stage of puberty. Both accusers were 13 at the time of the alleged rape.
The boys never seemed to stay around when they became teenagers and adults. Few if any of them seem to have maintained their relationships with him past a certain age.
He surrounded himself with children who were terminally ill, had single parents, were very poor or had some other personal problems. Generosity? Or singling out a weak, shy, needy, lonely and defenseless child, as pedophiles often do? Or both?
He lavished money, time and attention on children he
didn't abuse, maybe to gain the trust and goodwill of parents and guardians and the goodwill of the public and community. Typical of a pedophile.
He had few companions and friends of his own age- Uri Geller and Deepak Chopra seem to be exaggerating their relationship with him and he didn't seem all that close with other people who say they were friends, such as Liz Taylor and MC Hammer- and seemed more comfortable and relaxed around children than around adults.
Again, this isn't hard evidence. Again, this doesn't prove he was a pedophile. Still, when you stack them up and take them all together, they do seem to point to it.
The parents of these kids, though. What were they thinking? A complete and total stranger and they left their children all alone with him for weeks, something you wouldn't do if he was your own brother or your closest friend.
