Shadows From Jackson's Past

Now that the judge in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial has cleared the way for prosecutors to bring up prior abuse allegations, observers are wondering just how damning such new testimony could be.

Viewers of The Early Show got a glimpse of some possible testimony Wednesday when Russ Mitchell spoke with Raymond Chandler, whose nephew accused Jackson of molesting him in 1993.

The nephew was 12 at the time, and is said to have settled out of court with Jackson for $20 million.

Chandler wrote about the incident in the book, "All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-Up."

The nephew isn't expected to take the stand in Jackson's trial. But his parents might.

Chandler is now estranged from the family but says he knows details about the old abuse allegations.

He tells Mitchell his brother's wife could testify that "her son slept around with Michael Jackson in various locations around the world. About 50 or 60 nights, conservatively, which means this was not an impromptu sleepover that happened occasionally at Neverland (Jackson's ranch). This was a long-term relationship as long as child molestation goes."

Why won't Chandler's nephew testify?

"He's tired of being the Michael Jackson kid," Chandler explains. "He's had to move three times in the past 10 years. Every time Jackson comes up in the media, the media finds my nephew, camps out at his door and won't leave him alone. I guess he's weighed both sides of this and decided this is what he wants."

Which is unfortunate, Chandler asserts. "I understand his reasons," he says. "I think they're all legitimate reasons. But I think they're outweighed by the fact that this is a man who, if he's set free, will have access to more children. And my nephew's testimony could be the one piece of evidence that stops him."

It could, Chandler says, "give a lot of credibility to the family. That's the weak part of this particular case -- the family's credibility, according to the defense. If the boy's story is corroborated and supported by other people saying they saw Michael Jackson doing inappropriate things with other children as well, the jury's gonna have a tendency to believe this boy more than not."

Chandler says his nephew is "doing fine" in terms of his experience with Michael Jackson, because the key thing with abused children is to get psychiatric help quickly, which is what he did. But in terms of being the public figure that he is, that's the big problem."

Chandler says there's another similarity between his nephew's supposed experience and the claims in Jackson's current trial. He says Jackson coached his nephew to lie to authorities about their relationship. Prosecutors in the ongoing trial claim Jackson did the same to the current plaintiff.