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Secret FBI files exclusively seen by the Sunday People reveal Michael Jackson spent £23million buying the silence of at least two dozen young boys he abused over 15 years.

The documents – case numbers CADCE MJ-02463 and CR 01046 – were not passed on to prosecutors in the King of Pop’s 2005 trial, when he was cleared of molesting a child.

But they throw a disturbing new light on the megastar’s insistence he never laid a finger on any of the scores of kids he invited to his home for unsupervised sleep-overs.

Agents have thousands of pages of evidence dating back to 1989 indicating Jacko groomed and molested children – sometimes right under the noses of their starstruck parents.

The FBI files include private investigators’ reports, phone transcripts and hours of audio tapes.

They describe how the Thriller hit-maker was once caught by a member of his household staff groping a world-famous child star, watching porn films while molesting another boy and fondling the genitals of a third in his private cinema.

The mother of one of the youngsters was sitting two or three rows in front of them at the time – unaware of the vile abuse her son was suffering.

Ironically, many of the damning reports in the FBI collection had been commissioned by Jacko himself.

Terrified the parents of boys who spent nights with him at his Neverland ranch might go to the cops or expose him in the media, the desperate singer hired “private eye to the stars” Anthony Pellicano to target potential skeletons in his closet – and make sure they stayed out of the limelight.

But when Pellicano was investigated himself in 2002 for bugging Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone, the FBI seized all his files – including many about Jackson. It is copies of these to which the Sunday People has had exclusive access.

The latest revelations about Jacko’s lurid past come as his private life is once again in the spotlight – even though four years have passed since he died from heart failure aged 50.

His family are currently suing gig promoters AEG Live for £26billion, claiming they hired Dr Conrad Murray, who gave Jacko the dose of the anaesthetic propofol that killed him.

AEG deny employing Murray, now serving a four-year jail term for involuntary manslaughter.

The files will also dismay Jacko’s kids Prince, 16, Paris, 15, and 11-year-old Blanket, who have not yet come to terms with losing their father.

In fact, Paris tried to kill herself by slashing her wrists just three weeks ago and is still in hospital.

But there is yet more shocking news for the singer’s family – Jackson’s former child pal Wade Robson, a dancer and once one of his most stalwart defenders, has just launched a major lawsuit against his estate.

Robson, now 30, claims he was often molested at Neverland during his regular visits to the infamous ranch during the 1990s.

The Aussie-born choreographer for pop stars such as Britney Spears and Demi Lovato claims the abuse started when he was only seven and continued until he was 14.

The files seen by this newspaper appear to confirm Robson’s claim to be one of many child victims who were invited to fulfil Jackson’s sick fantasies at his isolated playground in the Californian countryside.

Pellicano is now behind bars serving a 15-year jail sentence for racketeering and wire-tapping.

But one of his senior snoops – who worked extensively on the Jackson case – has broken his silence to speak exclusively to the Sunday People.

The investigator, whose name we are withholding, said he was among those quizzed by FBI agents probing his old boss. And he kept copies of many of the Jackson documents now held in the bureau’s archives.

The paedophile allegations – sandwiched between thousands of pages of information about Jackson, his career and his accusers – include interviews with ex-aides who claim their boss was fixated with child porn.

The files name 17 boys – including five child actors and two dancers – Jacko singled out for abuse.

Other kids the singer preyed on include a European boy and the sons of a screenwriter.

At least three boys got hush-money, the investigator said, with the family of one well-known young film actor ­being given £392,000 “to refrain from any and all contact with media and communications, newspapers, television, radio, film and books”.

The gagging order also insisted there would not be any attempt now or in the future to “extort, intimidate, harass or impede” the Jackson organisation.

A maid who worked for the singer at Neverland was said to have been paid off with about £1.3million after complaining her son had been abused by her employer. And the investigator told of one shocking case of a mother who knew her young son was being molested by Jackson “but turned a blind eye to it because if it didn’t bother him, it didn’t bother her”.

Many of the files on the victims – whose names are not being published for legal reasons – were originally pulled together by lawyers drawing up a list of a potential threats to Jackson’s paedophile secret in the early 1990s.

Read more: 'If there are five children he'll take the one he wants': Michael Jackson enticed "lost boys" into sordid fantasy world hidden from their parents

The legal team was scrambled after the dentist dad of 13-year-old Jordan Chandler went public with claims his son had been abused – opening the door to a string of accusations involving other kids.

The sleuth who worked for Pellicano said: “Around 1993 things were really heating up. The suggestions were Jordie was not the only victim. The momentum became so great Jackson needed a private investigator to go straight for the jugular and produce results.

“His actress friend Elizabeth Taylor encouraged him to hire Pellicano ­because she had used him to stop dirt on her drug problems being released in the media – Pellicano was a master of negotiation and keeping stars’ ­reputations clean.

“I was hired by him to find out where the fires needed putting out and, in this case, where allegations would be coming from.

“But I have never worked on a case with as many potential claimants as the Jackson case.”

The investigator, who spent two years on the case, saw Pellicano’s ruthless methods first-hand in the frantic bid to salvage Jackson’s Mr Clean image.

He said his boss encouraged his extensive contacts in the media to call the singer’s victims after he paid them off so they could publicly deny he ever touched them. It was part of a relentless campaign to clear the megastar’s name.

The investigator said: “There was a mountain of allegations levelled at Jackson and Pellicano was determined to prove his client innocent.

“He promised Jackson, ‘I can make this go away’ and he wanted me to dig up everything that was around on him and then began smoothing it over.

“Pellicano had links to key figures in the US media and made them dance to his tune. He was very good at starting fires – but also at putting them out. By the end we had at least 10 boxes of documents about Jackson.”

He went on: “The FBI had all that information long before Jackson’s 2005 trial. I’m surprised this evidence never came to light.

“Then again, if the pay-offs were successfully executed, no one would have spoken.

“At the time, Jackson was on a world tour, battling drug addiction and planning his next CD and future.

“If these files had been released then, Jackson’s career would have been over. But he was the King of Pop and spending the equivalent of a year’s royalties was worth it to keep him on his throne. With the help of people like Pellicano, the world and his fans never heard what took place at Neverland over 15 years.”

At his 2005 trial, Jackson was acquitted of abusing and feeding ­alcohol to a 13-year-old boy who had survived cancer. But the private eye said: “Our reports painted the picture that Jackson was a serial child predator.

“It showed at least two dozen children were given money to stay quiet – which came to around ­$35million (£23million).

“Wade Robson was one of the kids identified as a victim while our reports show many others were paid off before their names even emerged.”

(Image: Sunday People)

He said the pay-out total includes the £13million settlement to Jordie Chandler and up to £4.5million in legal and investigation fees. The investigator added: “I haven’t released this now to upset Michael’s children, who haven’t done anything wrong.

“But when Wade’s case was announced, I felt it was time the public knew what information had been ­collected, what the authorities have – and what has never been released.”

Brian Oxman, a long-time Jackson family lawyer and friend, said yesterday he was not aware that Michael “paid off” any boys other than Jordan Chandler.

He said: “The only money I know about was Jordan Chandler. But the gift list on Michael’s income tax returns was astounding.

"He would give out a great deal of money and top of the list was Elizabeth Taylor. He gave money to a whole series of people. It happened all the time.

“I wasn’t aware of any pay-offs to kids. I never heard him talking about it.”

scoops@people.co.uk