Director
Dan Reed described
Leaving Neverland as a "study of the psychology of
child sexual abuse, told through two ordinary families ...
groomed for twenty years by a
pedophile masquerading as a trusted friend."
[17] In the film,
Wade Robson and James Safechuck allege that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children–Safechuck beginning in 1988, Robson beginning in 1990. They give graphic descriptions of Jackson's alleged sex acts, including
masturbation,
oral sex, and
anal sex, which they claim took place at his home,
Neverland Ranch, and other locations.
Robson and Safechuck claim that these acts were regarded as "romantic", and that they did not realize they were inappropriate until adulthood. Safechuck says Jackson once took him shopping for an engagement ring (which he kept as memorabilia) and later held a mock wedding. He began therapy in 2013 and recalled his trauma for the first time. His mother, Stephanie Safechuck, describes feeling elated and dancing when
Jackson died in 2009. Robson says Jackson told him to distrust women. Both men claimed that Jackson tried pushing them away from their families and "
brainwashing" them. Jackson allegedly sent the two men "love letters" and set up security systems at Neverland to prevent other people from witnessing their sexual acts.
Safechuck claims Jackson eventually replaced him with Brett Barnes, and Robson claims he was replaced by actor
Macaulay Culkin because Jackson preferred prepubescent boys (Culkin is two years older than Robson). Robson says he was given Jackson memorabilia as a child; he is photographed burning those items at the end of the film.
