Michael Jackson Accuser Wade Robson Recalled Alleged Abuse After Becoming a Father: 'This Wasn't Loving, Normal Behavior,' Says Lawyer
Celebrity choreographer Wade Robson recently amended his 2013 legal claim that he was sexually abused by Michael Jackson with the startling allegation that the artist operated the "most sophisticated public child sexual abuse procurement and facilitation organization the world has known."
The fact that he waited until decades after the alleged abuse took place – and three years after Jackson had died – has raised some eyebrows, but his lawyer says that Robson repressed the painful memories until 2012, after becoming a father to now 5½-year-son Koa.
"He just recently made that determination soon after giving birth to his first child," attorney Vince Finaldi tells PEOPLE exclusively. "He started having all these things come up. This wasn't loving, normal behavior – things that the world just won't understand. If this were my child I would absolutely not be okay with it. This is sexual abuse. He went to a therapist."
Though the original complaint was thrown out of court in 2015, Finaldi explains that a previous legal effort named the late singer's estate in their claim, despite the fact that the statue of limitations had passed. (Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the Jackson estate, hailed the ruling at the time, saying the estate believed Robson's earlier sworn testimony in Jackson's defense "when his sole motivation was 'to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.'")
Since he's been brought on, Finaldi's strategy is to continue with the cases against the late singer's business entities, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, which remain active.
"What triggered the amendment complaint is our review of the files and materials, and our determination that [Jackson] was in fact operating MJJ Productions as a child sexual abuse procurement operation. That was unquestionably the second purpose of this business," Finaldi alleges. "He was using it to pay for gifts for kids and parents in order to groom them for later sexual abuse. He was using it to pay for trips for kids, for plane tickets, for hotels to bring them with him on concerts and to also employ some of these kids as 'dancers' – but he would also be putting them into his room and sleeping with them at night and sexually abusing them."
He continued: "None of these are standard operations for an entertainment company that's supposed to be distributing music as an entertainment."
According to Finaldi, Robson, 33, is intent on "getting answers as to why this happened. If you can't figure out why this was allowed to happen, you can't protect kids from this happening in the future in the entertainment industry in general. One of his main concerns is making sure that this does not happen again and kids are protected. He wants to get the real story out there."
Representatives for MJJ have yet to respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
While the case is prepared, Finaldi says that Robson continues to work on his personal demons.
"As with any other survivor, there are good days and there are bad days. You just have to plod through it, so he's still in therapy. He's working his depths going from being a victim to a survivor, and he's really committed to it. This is really hard work. This is lifetime work."
The trial is currently set for March 2017.
• Reporting by NICOLE SANDS
