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Jackson baby antics no thriller: Experts
US child welfare experts on Tuesday slammed pop icon Michael Jackson as irresponsible for dangling a small baby from a fifth-floor balcony, apparently in a bid to thrill fans.
US child welfare experts on Tuesday slammed pop icon Michael Jackson as irresponsible for dangling a small baby from a fifth-floor balcony, apparently in a bid to thrill fans.
Child protection workers said they were shocked over the incident that took place in Berlin on Tuesday as the self-styled "King of Pop" waved to fans and reporters from his hotel near the Brandenburg Gate.
"Considering Mr. Jackson started a charity to protect children, this was alarmingly irresponsible behaviour with a child," said Kevin Kirkpatrick of Prevent Child Abuse America.
"Holding a child like that with what appeared to be one arm while leaning over a fourth floor balcony window is pretty careless to say the least," he said adding that children are killed every year by falls from windows.
"It's most unfortunate that Mr. Jackson felt compelled to demonstrate such alarming behaviour before the international media" who filmed the incident.
Jackson, who was taking a break from a 21-million-dollar breach of contract trial in California, held the youngster out over the railing of his hotel balcony with a cloth draped over its head, to the screams of fans below.
Reports said the child was the reclusive star's third and youngest child, Prince Michael II, whom Jackson took to Berlin where he is to receive a Bambi entertainment award on Thursday.
Kirkpatrick said that Jackson's action would probably be considered child endangerment or neglect in the United Sates, but said that it was unlikely action would be taken against him as the child was apparently unharmed.
Other child abuse experts agreed that Jackson was unlikely to face legal action in the United States, but said that holding a baby out of a high-rise window would be considered very dangerous if it had occurred here.
"I have not yet seen the film and cannot comment on this case, but it sounds very strange indeed," said Janis Spire, executive director of the Los Angeles branch of the Alliance for Children's Rights.
"I would tell anyone who saw an adult dangling a child out of a window to call a child protection hotline and the police.
"Common sense says you cannot endanger a child by irresponsible behaviour that exposes them to anything harmful," Spire said.
Stuart Riskin of the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services asked: "What are the German authorities doing about this?"
But he and other officials stressed that under US rules, authorities can only intervene in cases of abuse that take place within their jurisdictions, meaning that any US legal action against Jackson was unlikely.
