Nanny: 'I Never Pumped Jackson's Stomach'

June 30, 2009— -- The nanny who raised Michael Jackson's three children broke her silence today to deny a report that she'd said she routinely pumped the pop star's stomach after he had taken large amounts of dangerous drugs.

But Grace Rwaramba, who worked for Jackson for 17 years, did not comment on what her role might be in the children's lives going forward. The 42-year-old nanny was a close member of his inner circle and in many ways the only mother figure his children knew.

Her relationship with Jackson, and questions about whether she will mount a battle for custody of his children, have spurred interest and rumors about the Rwandan national.

The Times of London recently posted what it said was an interview with Rwaramba on its Web site, in which she was quoted as saying that she had regularly pumped Jackson's stomach after he had taken toxic combinations of dangerous drugs. Pumping a person's stomach is a medical procedure usually conducted in hospitals.

The nanny denied both pumping his stomach and ever talking to the Times.

"I am shocked, hurt and deeply saddened by recent statements the press has attributed to me, in particular, the outrageous and patently false claim that I 'routinely pumped his stomach after he had ingested a dangerous combination of drugs,'" Rwaramba said in a statement.

"I don't even know how to pump a stomach!! In addition, I have never spoken to the Times Online, the original source of the story that has now been picked up worldwide. The statements attributed to me confirm the worst in human tendencies to sensationalize tragedy and smear reputations for profit," she added.

Law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News that Jackson was addicted to the painkillers Oxycontin and Demerol.

Jackson and Rwaramba were so close that the couple was rumored to be considering marriage in 2006.

She traveled with Jackson and the children to Bahrain and Ireland following Jackson's 2005 child molestation acquittal. In 2008 she testified in Jackson's defense during a breach-of-contract trial brought against the singer by a Bahranian sheik.

She has also been rumored to have introduced the pop singer to the black-Muslim sect, the Nation of Islam.