Handcuffs shame as Jackson arrested

Michael Jackson (above) was arrested last night over child abuse allegations.

The pop superstar flew into Santa Barbara airport in California from Las Vegas on a private jet where he was met by police officers and then taken into custody in handcuffs.

"He is currently at Santa Barbara County main jail to be processed and booked," Sheriff Jim Anderson said.

"We expect that he will post bail and turn over his passport at that time."

Jackson had been in Las Vegas filming a music video when dozens of law enforcement agents swarmed his Neverland ranch compound near Santa Barbara on Tuesday to serve a search warrant.

Jackson is charged by the state with lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, punishable by three to eight years in prison.

"Michael would never harm a child in any way," his spokesman Stuart Backerman said in a statement. "These scurrilous and totally unfounded allegations will be proven false in a courtroom."

The New York Post said the alleged 12-year-old victim is a cancer patient whose "last wish" was to meet Jackson.

The boy told his psychiatrist that Jackson plied him with wine and sleeping pills when he stayed at Neverland.

Fox News said that after Jackson and the boy met, the star allegedly began to pay the family's medical bills and assisted them financially in other ways.

He allegedly knew several months ago that the boy's family was concerned about his relationship with their son, said the US TV channel.

The sex abuse allegations began to come out when the boy's schoolmates, who apparently knew about his relationship with Jackson, began to taunt him.

His mother's lawyer suggested the boy see a psychiatrist, who after speaking to the boy decided to contact police.