Jackson: I'm No Jack the Ripper

Michael Jackson wants the world to know he's not really bad or dangerous, and he's definitely not a smooth criminal.

In his first televised interview since being arrested last month on child-molestation charges, the erstwhile King of Pop adamantly rejected the allegations in a thriller of a Q&A on CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday.

"Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists," Jackson told 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley during the one-on-one sit-down filmed in a Los Angeles hotel room on Christmas night. "I would never hurt a child. It's totally false. I was outraged. I could never do something like that."

Still, despite the public humiliation, Jackson reiterated the controversial comments first expressed in last February's revealing British documentary, saying he still believes it's okay to share his bed with children.

"Of course. Why not? If you're going to be a pedophile, if you're going to be Jack the Ripper, if you're going to be a murderer, it's not a good idea. That I am not," Jackson stated vehemently.

When asked whether he thought it acceptable for his three kids to sleep in the bed with another man, Jackson replied, "Sure, if I know that person, trust them and love them. That's happened many times with me when I was little."

The 45-year-old entertainer, who's facing nine felony counts, stressed that he never slept in the bed with the alleged victim, saying he slept on the floor. But he also said that even if they were in bed together, it would still be kosher.

"People think sex. They're thinking sex. My mind doesn't run that way. When I see children, I see the face of God. That's why I love them so much. That's what I see," the singer said. "I am not going to do anything sexual to a child. It's not where my heart is. I would never do anything like that. That's not Michael Jackson. I'm sorry. That's someone else."

Meanwhile, Jackson's interview didn't exactly endear himself to those close to the boy's family. "It seemed to me like he reindicted himself," Bill Dickerman, an attorney who once represented the boy's family, told ABC's Good Morning America Monday. "He said many things that were not in his favor."

Jackson also accused Santa Barbara authorities of manhandling him when he was in custody, hurting his back when officers cuffed his hands too tightly. He showed Bradley a photograph indicating bruising on his wrists. Jackson said the picture was taken after he was booked, and he added that the injury "keeps me from sleeping at night."

"My shoulder is dislocated, literally," said Jackson. "It's hurting me very badly. I'm in pain all the time. This is, see this arm? This is as far as I can reach it. Same with this side over here."

Jackson also claimed that upon requesting to use the restroom, officers deliberately locked him in for 45 minutes.

"There was doo-doo, feces thrown all over the walls, the floor, the ceiling," recalled Jackson. "And it stunk so bad. Then one of the policemen came by the window. And he made a sarcastic remark. He said, 'Smell--does it smell good enough for you in there? How do you like the smell? Is it good?' And I just simply said, 'It's all right. It's okay.' "

Santa Barbara officials have previously denied any mistreatment of Jackson.

Throughout the interview, Jackson took pains not to lay blame for his predicament on the alleged victim, a teenage cancer survivor who appeared with Jackson in the British documentary earlier this year. Instead, he said the child's accusations were manufactured by adults who have manipulated the youngster for their own financial gain.

"Somewhere greed got in there, and somebody...I can't quite say. But it has to do with money. It's Michael Jackson. Look what we have here. We can get money out of this. That's exactly what happened," said Jackson. "[Children] feel they have to do what their parents say, but the love of money is the root of all evil. And this is a sweet child. And to see him turn like this, this isn't him. This is not him."

Jackson also told Bradley that he wanted to help the boy so much that he even showed the boy his secret place where he gets his inspiration for his music, a tree he calls "my giving tree."

Jackson said that he has devoted his life to bringing joy to children, including other cancer patients, inviting many of them to his Neverland Ranch to play in his amusement park, zoo and arcade and to spend the night.

Now, Jackson says his current legal problems will likely put an end to the sleepovers in the near future.

Jackson accused investigators of "overdoing" their search of his sprawling estate; the 80-plus officers "trashed" several rooms in their quest for evidence, Jackson claimed to Bradley. The singer felt so violated by the search that he plans to beat it.

"I won't live there ever again," said Jackson. "I'll visit Neverland. It's a house now. It's not a home anymore."

Reflecting back on the interview, Bradley told CBS News that he was surprised to finally be talking to Jackson considering 60 Minutes has been trying to interview him for nearly a year since controversy erupted over the Martin Bashir documentary.

His meeting with the music icon essentially left him feeling that Jackson sincerely believes no harm has been done by his behavior.

"I left with the impression that Michael Jackson is and always has been a strong person, because you have to be that way to accomplish what he's done, but at the same time, he's a very delicate person emotionally and a very naïve person...because he doesn't live the way most people do," said Bradley. "He's created this fantasy world that is almost this child's playground, and for him, that's normalcy."

Meanwhile, after landing the biggest exclusive of the year, CBS has announced plans to finally reschedule the Jackson musical retrospective Number Ones that the network initially had scheduled for November sweeps but shelved in the wake of the allegations. CBS has admitted that the 60 Minutes interview was reportedly part of a quid pro quo arrangement with Jackson's reps--a move that has drawn criticism.

Not that CBS execs are letting ethics worry them--Jackson's 60 Minutes chat drew a whopping 19.7 million viewers, according to overnight estimates, making it the most-watched show of the week. Number Ones will now air Friday at 8 p.m.

Jackson, meanwhile, is due to be arraigned January 16.