Four siblings who were part of Michael Jackson’s ‘secret family’ for 25 years before he died have branded the pop star ‘evil’ and a ‘mastermind’ paedophile who brainwashed them into keeping quiet after he allegedly sexually abused them for years.
The late singer first became close with the family in the 1980s when he befriended the children’s parents, hotel manager Dominic Cascio Snr and his wife, Connie.
Eddie, Dominic, Aldo and Marie-Nicole Cascio have since launched a lawsuit against Jackson’s estate, claiming the star molested them when they were youngsters.
Speaking on 60 Minutes Australia on Sunday night, Eddie, 43, claimed that Jackson wooed the family with lavish shopping trips, flights on private jets, visits to amusement parks, as well as taking them on tour to his gigs all around the world.
Jackson allegedly paid late-night visits to the family’s suburban New York home, bringing his chimpanzee, Bubbles, along to charm the children, who admitted they were ‘starstruck’ by the pop star and ‘felt special’ to be associated with him and his A-list friends.
But the singer’s warmth and generosity had a very dark side, the siblings claimed, with all four saying they were manipulated and groomed before suffering through a years-long campaign of vile alleged sexual abuse.
They alleged that this took place at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, at various hotels on his world tours, and even in the siblings’ own home while their parents were downstairs, unaware.
‘When you have the biggest superstar in the world in the 80s that wants to be your friend, you’re vulnerable and easily manipulated,’ Dominic told the TV program.
Four siblings who were part of Michael Jackson’s ‘secret family’ for 25 years before he died have branded the pop star ‘evil’ and a ‘mastermind’ paedophile who brainwashed them into keeping quiet after he allegedly sexually abused them for years
‘My parents were young. For them to have such a big celebrity want to be friends with them… they definitely felt special, and so did we,’ Eddie said.
‘He made us feel like we were his family, his kids, his everything.’
Jackson grew so close to the Cascios that they claimed he referred to them as his ‘second family’ and became like a ‘fun uncle’ to the kids.
However, the siblings alleged that behind closed doors, Jackson had curated a twisted inner circle known as The Applehead Club.
Edward said Jackson began to molest him when he was just 11 and travelling with the singer on his Dangerous tour in 1993.
‘That’s when my world started to change,’ Edward claimed.
‘We were on tour, and that’s when Michael started to get closer and started rubbing me on my legs. I was sitting on his lap, and that’s when the first kiss happened, where he kissed me on the lips.’
Edward said Jackson nicknamed him ‘angel’ and that the pair took baths together, as well as sharing a bed.
How should we treat claims of abuse that surface long after an accused has died?
The Cascio siblings – Eddie, Dominic, Aldo and Marie-Nicole – spoke out on 60 Minutes Australia on Sunday night with horrific claims that Jackson molested all four of them when they were children. Above, the singer with Eddie, Dominic, and Marie-Nicole
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Once it began, Edward claimed the molestation happened ‘almost every night’.
The alleged abuse continued for years, and by the age of 16, Edward claimed that Jackson was penetrating him.
‘I would have to perform oral sex on him. And vice versa. It’s pretty tough because my manhood was taken away as well as my childhood,’ he said.
Edward said he experienced the longest period of molestation among his siblings, claiming he was abused for 16 years, well into his adulthood.
He alleged that Jackson had last approached him for sexual favours just months before his death in 2009.
Meanwhile, Dominic alleged Jackson would rope him into disturbing ‘games’, such as one allegedly called the ‘booty rumble’.
‘He would lay me on top of him with my genitals up against his. While he would shake, he would kind of push up against me,’ Dominic claimed.
Jackson first became close with the Cascio family in the 1980s when he befriended the siblings’ father, hotel manager Dominic Cascio Snr (far right), and his wife Connie (far left)
‘He would [also] drink my urine and tell me, “This is how much I love you.” I’m maybe 12 years old at the time. Like, I’m a child who’s seeing this man do this.
‘And I said, “Oh, I guess he really does love me. I mean, I would never want to drink someone’s urine, so he must really love me.”‘
Marie-Nicole alleged Jackson would convince her to undress in front of him when she was just 12 years old and masturbate while looking at her.
‘He just kept saying, “This is normal.” He asked me to spread my legs, and he asked to look at my vagina and he proceeded to go close to it, and he sniffed it,’ she alleged.
‘He looked at it, and he admired it and was like, “Wow.”
‘I had a secret code that anytime he wanted to have a meeting with me… he would masturbate while looking at me exposed.’
Aldo, the youngest of the Cascio siblings, claimed he and Jackson were lying in bed together and playing video games when the singer allegedly molested him.
‘He just pulled down my shorts and started giving me oral sex. And he’d [say] right away, “Doesn’t that feel good? See, I love you. I love you,” Aldo alleged.
Eddie, Dominic, Aldo and Marie-Nicole claimed they stuck by Jackson for so long – even in death – because he allegedly groomed them and their parents into idolising him
‘I had no idea what sex was. I had no idea that this was inappropriate. He raped me and masked it into love.’
The siblings alleged Jackson maintained control and continuously abused them through the combined use of fear, alcohol, and prescription drugs.
Dominic and Marie-Nicole claimed the pop star had them drink ‘Jesus Juice’, which was wine Jackson allegedly mixed with Vicodin and Xanax in soft drink cans.
‘He gave me Xanax and Vicodin at 11 years old and told me I’d be floating and I would love it,’ Marie-Nicole claimed.
Dominic and Aldo went on to allege that Jackson would convince each of them that they were the only ones in the family who were being abused.
They claimed he would also run them through role-playing exercises to prepare them for interrogation by police and their parents.
‘He would instill a fear into you about, “I’m going to go to jail, your family’s life is going to be ruined,”‘ Dominic claimed.
‘My mum asked me, “Is Michael doing anything to you?” So I had to say what he trained us to say,’ Aldo alleged.
Marty Singer, a lawyer acting for Jackson’s estate, denied the sexual abuse allegations in a statement to 60 Minutes, accusing the Cascio family of a ‘desperate money grab’.
He pointed to the Cascios’ decades-long, ‘consistent and repeated’ defence of Jackson, with the siblings previously insisting he had ‘never harmed any of them’.
‘Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Jackson’s death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation,’ Mr Singer said.
‘Sadly, in death just as in life, Jackson’s talents and success continue to make him a target.’
Eddie, Dominic, Aldo and Marie-Nicole claimed they stuck by Jackson for so long – even in death – because he allegedly groomed them and their parents into idolising him.
The Cascio family maintained for years that Jackson had done nothing wrong, fiercely defending him in public, even amid his 2003 arrest.
However, this began to fracture in 2019 when they watched the documentary, Leaving Neverland, in which accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck laid out similar allegations against Jackson.
The siblings said they now wanted to ‘give courage to other victims out there to come out and be strong with us’.
‘Because at the end of the day, he was the monster, not us,’ Eddie alleged.
Jackson was first accused of sexual abuse in the early 1990s and settled a civil lawsuit in relation to the claims, but he consistently denied the accusations.
He was later arrested in the early 2000s when police investigated claims he had molested a 13-year-old, but was acquitted in a criminal trial.
The late singer’s biographical film, Michael, was released on April 24.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website. In an emergency, call 000.
