text: Jackson Acknowledges Settling Past Claims LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson, facing child-molestation allegations, acknowledged he has reached financial settlements with people in the past to avoid the embarrassment of going to court, but added he would never harm a child.    The six-paragraph statement was released hours before "Dateline NBC" broadcast a lengthy report alleging that the entertainer paid \$2 million to the son of an employee at his Neverland Ranch in 1990 to avoid a child-molestation accusation...