Michael Jackson's family and friends closed ranks around the pop legend as he holed-up in a luxury resort near Las Vegas following his arrest on child sex charges.

The beleaguered "King of Pop" was lying low at the Green Valley Ranch hotel resort in Henderson in Nevada state where he flew Thursday after being freed on three million dollars bail.

He was cloistered with his three children, father and some of his famous siblings who have expressed outrage at his arrest on multiple charges of molesting a child under the age of 14. US media says the alleged victim is a 12-year-old boy.

"He is surrounded by his family who have been extremely supportive," the star's spokesman Stuart Backerman told AFP. "He is very strong, he is very confident that the charges will be proven untrue.

"He is fine, he is a combative man," said Backerman said of the 45-year-old pop superstar whose unflattering mugshot taken by Santa Barbara sheriff's department was splashed across newspapers around the world on Friday.

He was handcuffed, booked, fingerprinted and photographed on counts of "lewd and lascivious behavior" with a child -- each of which carries a jail sentence of up to eight years.

Jackson was led into the sheriff's department in handcuffs Thursday and emerged less than an hour later waving and flashing a two-fingered "V" sign to a small group of screaming fans.

He then hopped back on his private jet and flew back to Las Vegas, where he had been filming a video. Aides refused to say if he intended to remain in the city until his first court hearing on January 9.

The singer, renowned for his eccentric and reclusive behaviour in recent years, has described the charges as "scurillous" and "a big lie" and his lawyers have insisted they will fight the accusations.

"Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons. The truth will win this marathon in court," Jackson said in a statement issued by Backerman.

Jackson has been dogged by allegations and suspicions about his close relations with children since 1993 when he was accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy, charges that were settled out of court with a payment that was reportedly worth between 15 to 40 million dollars.

But with the ink on his arrest warrant barely dry, Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred called for Jackson's children -- aged three, five and six -- to be put in protective custody.

"Removal of the children from Mr Jackson need not and should not await the outcome of the criminal case pending against him," she told reporters.

"Authorities have the right and responsiblity to protect children who are at substantial risk of harm even before a conviction or acquittal in a criminal case."

But prosecutors have said it is up to a juvenile court to decide the fate of his custodianship if the question arises.

As his lawyers stepped up preparations for what could become one of the most sensational celebrity trials ever, the Jackson family and friends of the entertainer protested his innocence.

Jackson's mother, Catherine hinted at a racist motive behind the charges in an interview with the German magazine Bunte, saying there were two interpretations of the law in the United States -- "one for whites and one for blacks."

She also suggested he had been framed ahead of a massive police swoop on his Neverland Ranch, near Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

His brother Jermaine also implicitly evoked the spectre of racism against the black star who is one of the best-known entertainers on earth. "He is innocent. This is nothing but a modern-day lynching," he said.

The same prosecutor who investigated Jackson in 1993, Tom Sneddon, is leading the latest case. He said this time Jackson would face criminal charges and that the alleged victim's family was not seeking money.

Court TV said the alleged victim was a 12-year-old cancer victim whom Jackson befriended, while other reports said he was the same boy Jackson admitted sharing a bed with in an explosive television interview in February.

Celebrity Justice meanwhile said the boy first made allegations in a therapy session that Jackson plied him with win and molested him.

The arrest has marred Tuesday's international release of Jackson's latest album, "Number Ones," and risks seriously damaging his career, industry experts said.

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