Michael Jackson will be charged Thursday in the child molestation case that has drawn international attention, Santa Barbara County prosecutors said.

Prosecutors will file charges at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court’s division in Santa Maria, a few miles from Jackson’s fairytale-inspired Neverland Ranch. A short media briefing will follow, District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said in a statement Wednesday.

The charges are expected to detail for the first time the allegations that Jackson molested a 14-year-old, cancer-stricken boy who slept over at Neverland several times. The boy appeared with Jackson in a British documentary that aired on ABC in February.

Jackson has said the allegations against him are “predicated on a big lie,” while his attorney has said the accuser’s family is seeking the superstar’s money. Jackson has been free on $3 million bail since he turned himself in Nov. 20.

Charges are usually filed around the time of an arrest, but Sneddon said last month he was delaying the filing against Jackson so the county could set up a Web site to release information to the myriad news organizations following the case. The site, designed for media access only, was launched Monday.

Sneddon has declined to comment on the charges. But former Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas, who has spoken with Sneddon about the case, said the charges would allege that Jackson molested the boy several times over a period of more than a month.

Credit: AP