As the media circus that is the Michael Jackson molestation trial heads to a jury today, Friday, June 3, at least one Kaua‘i resident believes that Jackson is innocent, and will be freed. That’s Rod Sumi of Wailua, a former
As the media circus that is the Michael Jackson molestation trial heads to a jury today, Friday, June 3, at least one Kaua‘i resident believes that Jackson is innocent, and will be freed. That’s Rod Sumi of Wailua, a former employee at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, the site of the alleged molestation.
“If the jury has any sense, they can see” it’s about the money, Sumi said. “I don’t know what happened after I left, but I know what happened when I was there.”
And, Sumi said, Neverland was a wonderful place where he brought his own children without reservation or fear. And that was during the time when Jackson was first accused of molestation.
Sumi said he worked at the ranch from 1988-1992, first as a security guard, as a firefighter and, finally, in the maintenance department in charge of maintaining and running the amusement-park rides.
Armed with an employee handbook, various phone directories, and photos of the ranch, Sumi sat down with The Garden Island yesterday to defend his former employer, even though he signed a confidentiality agreement against speaking publicly about what he saw while on the job at Neverland.
He said he would face a possible lawsuit to clear the air about his former boss.
“I’m not trying to stick up for him,” said Sumi. “He’s a weird dude. But being strange doesn’t make him a pedophile.”
Sumi said that, while Jackson’s behavior has been strange in the past, he has been nothing but supportive of children, especially those with serious illnesses. He’s even seen Jackson with a bevy of women.
“I saw him interact with girls,” he said. “He was just like any other guy with a girl.
“He never struck me as gay at all,” Sumi continued. “I never would have gone to work for him. I definitely never would have brought” the children to the ranch.
“The weirdest thing about him is he’s so bashful,” Sumi added. “He was a kid, acting like all the other kids.”
As for Jackson’s admission that he slept with his accuser, but that nothing sexual happened, Sumi said he believes it’s typical of the pop star.
“Michael’s so innocent,” he said. “A sleepover: that’s all he’s thinking about it. He just doesn’t think of” the sexual connotations.
But Jackson should have thought about the message he sent across, Sumi added.
The Kaua‘i resident, who said the only reason he left the park was to move to Kaua‘i with his family in 1992, remembers fondly the times he spent at the park, especially being able to help kids who couldn’t turn anywhere else.
In fact, Sumi said, the reason for the park in the first place was for disabled kids who couldn’t ride the Ferris wheel, the Zipper, or the Spider rides.
“That was the main idea to build the park, giving kids something they couldn’t normally have,” he said, “children where, in a normal park, they couldn’t interact, but at Neverland they did.”
Kids in wheelchairs, kids with fatal illnesses, kids with muscular dystrophy, they were the reason for Neverland Ranch’s rides, and the source of Jackson’s joy, Sumi said.
“He was up in the morning, drinking his coffee, just like anyone else,” he said.
And the accusations, that the boy was plied with alcohol, was strictly against the rules while he was there, he said.
“Not even his brothers could bring in a beer,” Sumi continued, adding that people were thrown out of the ranch for drinking alcohol on the premises. The only exception he said he saw was at Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding. He added that was also the craziest day of work, with dozens of helicopters buzzing overhead, a skydiving cameraman who landed in the compound, and training provided two weeks prior by former Israeli Army members. Sumi added that few children were ever allowed into the house. And sneaking around at night was impossible, with dozens of motion-activated alarms around the grounds and the house. He said he even testified on Jackson’s behalf four or five times when former employees sued the pop star, and said he was present when Jackson settled one of the claims against him.
Sumi said the workers scoffed at the accusations, and he believed Jackson settled the case so he didn’t have to deal with the lengthy and public trial.
He’s coming forward because he can’t stand to watch Jackson’s name sullied anymore.
“I’m enraged at the B.S. that’s going on,” he said. “I’d take the chance of him suing me because I think it needs to be told the way it is because he’s getting a bad rap.”
Sumi said he can’t watch much of the trial because it enrages him so.
“My main objective is to tell the story as I see it,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I shut my mouth.”
He said he regrets leaving the job, which gave him such an amazing feeling being able to help such disadvantaged children.
“I had a dream of eight years of moving to Kaua‘i,” Sumi continued. “This was a mean-time thing, a fluke. But I promised my family,” and they left California for Kaua‘i.
“He gave me a great opportunity,” Sumi said of Jackson. “I loved my job. The whole idea of building the park was the greatest. We had a lot of fun.”
And Sumi’s children enjoyed the experience, too, he said. “My own kids played with Michael,” Sumi added. “I never saw him be anything but a gentleman.”
