Keeping King company is former music executive John Niven, who wrote a scathing editorial about media coverage for the Independent.

"From every news channel to all the quality papers, there has been wholesale collusion in the notion that 'he was a great artist and, yes, there was some, umm, troubling stuff later on, but let's forget all that right now," writes Niven, described as a "writer and former A&R (artist and repertoire) man."

"At this point let me state my own position baldly,'' Niven goes on. "I believe that, at least in his later life, Michael Jackson was an active, predatory paedophile…Personally I believe the allegations are very real. Child sex experts will tell you the same thing over and over again: kids don't make this stuff up."

King and Niven's venom contrasts sharply from the image of loving father and gentle soul portrayed by Jackson's friends and cohorts.

"My family always maintained our belief that Michael was innocent in both (sexual exploitation) cases," Deepak Chopra's daughter Mallika, who grew up visiting Neverland, purportedly wrote. "Those that were close to Michael, all would admit he was quirky and had bad judgment at times. But to think Michael could abuse a child was unfathomable in my mind.''

Brad Sundberg, the technical engineer for several of Jackson's projects, also dismissed the abuse charges in an interview with an Alabama newspaper.

"There's a huge difference between loving kids and wanting to be around kids and any level of sexuality," he said. "Did he make some mistakes in judgment? Absolutely. But, he was not the reclusive monster he was made out to be."

The verdict is unanimous about MJ's talent. As Los Angeles braces for an onslaught of postmordem Jacksonmania, and celebrities line up to once again crown the deceased "King of Pop," what remains unresolved is whether he was victim or abuser.

Though twice accused of sexual molestation, Jackson was never convicted by a jury. And though America's jurisprudence is based on the belief that suspects are innocent until proven guilty, we all know the truth is fluid and hard to prove incontrovertibly.

Despite King's protest, it seems pointless to suggest that people stop celebrating Michael Jackson. The more interesting question is this: if we assume he's guilty, do we ignore his music and his magic? If "Wacko Jackson" was really a manipulative child abuser, do we deny his contributions to pop culture, dance, video?

Is a suspected child molester also entitled to our adulation? Or do we integrate both the "good" and the "bad" to reach a more unsettling, mysterious and complex picture?

That's the question that each of us has to answer -- and will likely be wrestling with for years. For as the Los Angeles Times' Mary McNamara writes, "The excavation has just begun because Michael Jackson is a national mystery, his death of Rosebudian proportions."