Was Michael Jackson guilty of pederasty? I lean toward very likely guilty. The reasons:
A large number of accusers.
A lot of evidence.
Large volumes of hush money and settlements sent out.
How often does this happen and the guy turns out to be innocent?
He'd be far from the only pedophile and/or rapist that was shielded from punishment and rehabilitated by confounding the evidence in the eyes of the public, often at the hands of corporate interest groups, powerful media orgs, government figures, religious organizations, and personal wealth or the wealth of their cronies. It was hardly a fair playing field between the accusers and him, given all his connections with people who made money off of him, and his own substantial resources.
He falls into the same group of others, some of whom were caught, some of whom are still shielded: Donald Trump, Jimmy Savile, Kirk Douglas, R. Kelly, Roman Polanski, the Catholic Church, Prince Andrew, Puff Daddy, and Jeffrey Epstein. You can also throw in the non-pedophile rapists like Harvey Weinstein.
I also don't buy the "he was just trying to recover his childhood" for one fucking second. He's far from the only kid that lost their childhood because of things like warfare, poverty, or simply absent parents. None of them turned into Michael Jackson/Jimmy Savile-like sorts.
Is he guilty for sure? I don't know for sure, but the pattern seems to point to a probably yes.
Either way, I'm not wiping Billie Jean, Wanna Be starting Something, or Rock with You off my playlists.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
