Michael Jackson [ tickets ], whom a judge scolded for arriving late to his court appearance, pleaded not guilty to several child-molestation charges during a Friday (1/16) arraignment hearing in Santa Maria, CA.

Santa Barbara County authorities have charged Jackson with seven counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an "intoxicating agent" between Feb. 7 and March 10, 2003. The intoxicating agent reportedly is wine.

After Jackson entered his plea, Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville set a Feb. 13 preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to try Jackson on the charges.

Jackson arrived in the courtroom more than 20 minutes later than scheduled, which immediately raised the ire of the judge.

"Mr. Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot here. ... I want to advise you that I will not put up with that. It's an insult to the court," Judge Melville reportedly said.

Outside the courtroom, hundreds of Jackson fans gathered with signs expressing support for the pop star, and were joined by many other curiosity seekers. Jackson's arrival received saturation coverage from cable-news networks and a throng of other media.

According to published reports, fans in the crowd distributed invitations to a gathering at Jackson's Neverland Ranch, which is located about 25 miles from the Southern California city of Santa Maria.

The 45-year-old singer was arrested nearly two months ago, after prosecutors and police raided Neverland. He was booked on Nov. 20, and has been free on $3 million bail ever since.

In their formal charges, prosecutors claim that Jackson engaged in unspecified acts that were intended to arouse, appeal to and gratify "the lust, passions, and sexual desires" of Jackson and the alleged victim, who is a cancer-stricken boy who was a regular visitor to Neverland.

The alleged victim was seen earlier this year in a British documentary, where he was shown holding hands with Jackson. In the documentary, Jackson said he and the boy sometimes slept in the same bedroom, but never shared a bed.

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