Jackson's love of children "innocent," says house guest (Extra)

Jun 26, 2009, 6:24 GMT

   Sydney - An Australian who visited Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch as a child described the King of Pop as kind, generous and incapable of abusing children.

   'People don't understand, you've got to meet him in person to know what he's like. He's very childlike in personality,' said Billy Ramirez, now a pharmacist in the far north city of Darwin.

   'He missed out on his childhood so he had to recapture that when he was an adult and he likes to be around children, nothing sinister or anything like that... it's all innocent.'

   Ramirez and his sisters were invited to Neverland after attending concerts in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in 1987.

   'The media put us on Channel Nine and Channel Seven and Michael Jackson had actually seen us from his hotel and arranged for us to meet him,' Ramirez told national broadcaster ABC.

   'He was just a wonderful, caring, giving person. He'll be greatly missed. I'm very shocked and I'm very saddened. This is a very sad day for me.'

   In 1993, Jackson settled out of court with a Neverland guest after the boy had claimed he had been molested. Ten years later Jackson was cleared of similar charges in what was then billed as the 'trial of the century.'