Michael Jackson, who left his Neverland estate on Friday soon after investigators arrived to search it, returned by helicopter the following day and provided authorities a DNA sample at their request, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported Sunday.
A cotton swab placed in Jackson’s mouth was used to collect the sample, the newspaper reported, citing sources it did not identify.
It wasn’t immediately clear how authorities planned to use the sample in Jackson’s child molestation case.
The 46-year-old entertainer has pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation, conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol, to his alleged victim. He is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 31.
Jackson was home when authorities arrived Friday but left soon afterward because the presence of law enforcement officials and prosecutors was upsetting his children, sources close to the entertainer told the News-Press. He returned Saturday specifically to give the sample.
MSNBC-TV's Dan Abrams reported Friday that authorities were searching Jackson's bed at his house for DNA.
Gathering DNA evidence so late in a case is unusual but not unprecedented, according to Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and Loyola University School of Law professor.
Prosecutors may have sought the evidence in an effort to corroborate witness statements they only recently obtained, Levenson said.
“Until you are really getting ready for trial and talking to witnesses, you don’t always know what is important,” she added.
Authorities spent more than eight hours at Neverland on Friday, then returned for less than two hours on Saturday.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s officials have refused to discuss the visits except to issue a statement saying they are “part of an ongoing criminal investigation.”
They come more than a year after Neverland was first searched on Nov. 18, 2003, shortly before Jackson was charged. They also come just ahead of a Monday deadline a judge has set for prosecutors and defense lawyers to complete the case’s discovery process in which both sides exchange the evidence they have gathered during their respective pretrial investigations.