Last February, Michael Jackson told the world he had "slept in a bed with many children." He insisted it was all innocent.

On Wednesday, authorities in Santa Barbara, California, alleged that the pop oddity's behavior was not, in fact, so innocent.

Officials announced at a press conference that they had issued a warrant for Jackson's arrest on "multiple counts" of allegedly molesting a child. The move came on the one-year anniversary of Jackson's infamous baby-dangling incident at a hotel in Germany.

In a statement released by Jackson's spokesman Stuart Backerman, the entertainer's camp blasted the allegations as "outrageous" and "false."

"Michael would never harm a child in any way," the statement said. "These scurrilous and totally unfounded allegations will be proven false in a courtroom."

In light of the "gravity of the charges against Mr. Jackson," CBS on Wednesday canceled Michael Jackson Number Ones, the network's planned hour-long tribute to the formerly top pop act. The special had been scheduled for November 26. The show, to feature the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé Knowles, is CBS' second November sweeps special, after the redirected The Reagans, to be pulled from the schedule due to controversy. CBS said it would consider airing the Jackson special "after the due process of the legal system runs its course."

Meanwhile, Backerman confirmed Jackson's legal team was to be headed by Mark Geragos, the defense attorney best known in Hollywood for representing Winona Ryder during her shoplifting trial. (In the end, the actress was convicted of two felonies.) Geragos is currently making headlines as counsel for Scott Peterson, the Modesto, California, man implicated in the death of his pregnant wife, Laci.

As of mid-morning, Jackson was not in custody, but Santa Barbara officials were said to be working with the entertainer's lawyers on a surrender. As part of the arrangement, Jackson would be required to hand over his passport. Bail was to be set at $3 million, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson told reporters.

Jackson's camp said the globe-trotting star, last known to be in Las Vegas, was bound for Santa Barbara "to immediately confront and prove these charges unfounded."

Neither Sheriff Anderson, nor Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. commented on the details of the case. However, according to still- unsubstantiated reports, the allegations involve a 12-year-old boy who visited Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The most Sneddon would allow is that his office was dealing with "a cooperative victim."

The call for Jackson's arrest came a day after some 70 members of the Santa Barbara County D.A.'s office and the Sheriff's department, armed with a search warrant, descended on Neverland, located near Los Olivos, a small town northwest of Santa Barbara. Anderson revealed that search warrants were served concurrently at two undisclosed locations in Southern California. The sweeps continued well into the night.

Jackson, 45, was in the crosshairs of a Sneddon-led Santa Barbara County probe 10 years ago, when the singer was investigated, but not indicted, on charges of alleged sexual misconduct involving a 13-year-old boy.

Sneddon took pains on Wednesday to argue why the 1993 case, which resulted in Jackson paying out a purported $20 million to his accuser, is different from today's case. The chief difference, Sneddon said, is that "the law in California has changed."

In 1993, a child could not be compelled to testify in a criminal molestation case. And, indeed, following the civil settlement a decade ago, Jackson's teen accuser did not cooperate with authorities, thwarting their investigation. The California legislature, reacting to the Jackson case, closed the loophole, requiring children to take the stand.

Sneddon, almost upbeat and jovial with reporters even as he repeatedly declined to answer their questions, said he expected charges to be filed against Jackson, a single father of three, "within a very short period of time."

Jackson and his reps apparently took note of the casual tone of the press conference. "We are disturbed by the levity of the environment surrounding the announcement of these very serious charges," the release from his spokesman said.

In a statement Tuesday, Jackson portrayed himself as the victim of opportunists, who "always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an album, a video is being released."

His comment was a reference to the release of his latest greatest-hits collection, Number Ones, which hit music-store shelves just as police swarmed Jackson's fantasy-world getaway.

Sneddon dismissed Jackson's charge, stating that the warrants have been in the works for weeks and that authorities were unaware of the album's release date. "Like the sheriff and I are really into that music," he joked.

At one point on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the Jackson arrest warrant was announced, Number Ones--likely the final release under the falling star's expiring deal with Sony--climbed to the 27th spot on Amazon.com's music sales chart. Prior to the well-publicized press conference, the album stood at number 50.

Jackson was said to have been in Las Vegas in recent weeks to work on a video for "One More Chance," a new song off the Number Ones disc. The single was penned and produced by R&B star R. Kelly, who is himself under indictment on child-pornography charges in Illinois and Florida.

Although Kelly's case is no insignificant matter, it's arguable that Jackson's self-inflicted PR woes dwarf those experienced by the younger man.

In addition the criticism Jackson took from child-care advocates for holding his infant son over the balcony railing of his fourth-floor hotel suite last November 19, Jackson has recently faced legal battles with a former financial advisor, Sotheby's auction house and a concert promoter, not to mention a courtroom photographer who caught what passes for Jackson's nose in a most unflattering light.

Last February, Jackson received both sympathy and scorn after his appearances in a British-produced documentary which shed new light on his personal life, including his penchant for sleeping with children.

Jackson told journalist Martin Bashir he had "slept in a bed with many children."

"When you say bed, you're thinking sexual," Jackson said. "It's not sexual, we're going to sleep. I tuck them in. It's very charming, it's very sweet."