A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that four Cascio siblings’ sexual assault and child sex trafficking claims against Michael Jackson’s estate must be heard in private arbitration rather than public court. The decision matters because it prevents a jury trial and keeps the allegations and dispute largely outside open legal proceedings, despite the judge describing the claims as horrific.

The siblings say Jackson abused and trafficked them from the late 1980s until shortly before his death in 2009; the estate has been contacted for comment. A 2020 settlement, reportedly worth about $16 million over five years, included confidentiality, non-disparagement and binding-arbitration terms; the siblings argue they were misled about the agreement’s effect. Their brother Frank’s separate case was also sent to arbitration in March, while a distinct case by Wade Robson and James Safechuck is due for trial in November.