Details have begun to emerge about what transpired in the trial of US R&B singer, R Kelly as he returns to court after 2 years in jail.
The court began sitting at a court in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, August 18th.
R Kelly is undergoing trial in a case of sexual abuse, bribery and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. However, if found guilty, the ‘I believe I can fly’ hitmaker could spend decades in jail.
Some of the allegations date back 20 years where he is accused of recruiting women and underage girls for sexual exploitation.
The award-winning singer is also accused of using “lies, manipulations, threats and physical abuse to dominate his victims and to avoid accountability for years.”
According to Assistant US Attorney Maria Melendez in an opening statement;
“This case is about a predator. This is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot.”
According to New York Times, during the hearing, the first witness Jerhonda Pace told the jury that R Kelly knew she 16 in 2009 when they had intercourse in Chicago, where the age of consent is 17.
Another woman, Johnson Pace who was a fan of the R&B legend, now 28 said she initially told Kelly she was 19 but later revealed her true age on the day they had sex.
“I felt uncomfortable. I felt like it wasn’t right, that I should tell him my age.
“He asked me, ‘what is that supposed to mean ?’ and told me to tell everyone I was 19 – and to act 21.”
On her part, Kelly’s lawyer Nicole Blank Becker said in an opening argument that the alleged victims are groupies who originally consent to sex before becoming ‘spiteful.’
Becker described her client as a victim of women who wanted fame by being seen with a superstar. According to her, some of the women enjoyed the “notoriety of being able to tell their friends they were with a superstar.”
The prosecution, Melendez on her part said that the defendant’s celebrity status meant he “had his pick of young fans”.” She added that he hoarded his victims “like objects” and used “every trick in the predator handbook.”
She also alleged that the singer bribed his victims by photographing and filming them having sex and then threatening to release the tapes.
The cases against R Kelly have been delayed for 2 years due to the pandemic. During that period, he was clamped in jail.
If eventually he is acquitted of the ongoing cases in New York, he faces more sex-related cases in Illinois and Minnesota where he has also pleaded not guilty.
“Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Kelly has been credited with helping to redefine R&B and hip hop, earning nicknames such as “the King of R&B“.
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