The teenage boy who accuses Michael Jackson of sex abuse glared at the pop star on Wednesday as he took the witness stand to testify against Mr Jackson in his child molestation trial.

"Yes, that's Michael Jackson," the 15-year-old boy answered firmly when asked by Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon to identify the famous defendant sitting about 12 feet away from him in the packed courtroom.

Wearing a crisp blue shirt and dark pants, the boy stared defiantly at Mr Jackson, 46, as he was ushered into the courtroom and onto the witness stand.

He spoke firmly and clearly, in contrast to his brother and sister who during their testimony often mumbled and did not appear to look at Mr Jackson.

The boy, who met Mr Jackson at his Neverland Valley Ranch in 2000 while suffering from a cancer that doctors had predicted would kill him, is expected to be the prosecution's star witness.

Mr Jackson is charged with molesting the boy, plying him with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. Mr Jackson, who has pleaded innocent, could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all 10 criminal counts.

The boy told jurors that Mr Jackson invited him to Neverland in late 2002 for the filming of a documentary about the pop icon, then pulled him aside and asked him to embellish their relationship on camera.

The documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir, which aired in February of 2003, features Mr Jackson and the boy, then 13, holding hands and nuzzling, and has become a key piece of evidence in the trial.

"(Jackson) was like, 'I'm going to put you in the movies and this is your audition'," the boy said. "He told me he wanted me to say certain things, to say that he helped me and pretty much cured me of cancer."

Asked by Mr Sneddon if that was true, the boy said: "Not really, because (during) the majority of my cancer he wasn't even there."

He added that he considered comics George Lopez, Louise Palanker and Chris Tucker, and Los Angeles weatherman Fritz Coleman, whom he met through a youth camp at a local comedy club, much more instrumental to his recovery.

The boy added that he was willing to say the things Mr Jackson had asked him to say because at that point "I thought he was the coolest guy in the world, my best friend ever, if you know what I mean".

The boy said his family made their first visit to Neverland in 2000 and readily accepted when Mr Jackson invited the brothers to sleep in his bedroom. Once there, he said, Mr Jackson and an aide showed them internet pornography, mostly of women and girls that he guessed were between the ages of 15 and 25.

The boy said he had returned to Neverland at least seven times during his cancer treatment but had rarely seen Mr Jackson and had often found that phone numbers the entertainer had given him were disconnected.

Sometimes he would be told by Neverland staff that Mr Jackson was not home, then spot him on the grounds. On one of those occasions, he said, "I walked into the house and I saw Michael walking towards me and then he acted as if, 'Oh, crap!'.

The boy took the witness stand after his 14-year-old brother, who testified for more than three days, was excused.