Prosecutors make closing arguments against Kelly; singer says he won’t testify
NEW YORK — R. Kelly got away with sexually abusing underage victims for more than two decades by ruling his inner circle enablers with an iron fist, a prosecutor told jurors on Wednesday at the R&B singer’s sextrafficking trial.
“The defendant set rules, lots of them, and he demanded complete obedience,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said during closing arguments in federal court in Brooklyn.
That meant “for many years what happened in the defendant’s world stayed in the defendant’s world,” Geddes added. “But no longer.”
Among the secrets was Kelly’s 1994 marriage to the up-and-coming singer Aaliyah when she was 15, the prosecutor said. Only a few days later, the defendant “didn’t skip a beat” by allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old in his dressing room after a concert in Miami, she said.
The government had accused Kelly in opening statements last month of organizing a network of assistants, bodyguards and others at his disposal “to target, groom and exploit girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.” Six weeks of testimony from more than 45 witnesses and other evidence proved “he did just that,” Geddes said.
The start of the government’s summation — to continue on Thursday — came after Kelly told U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly that he won’t take the witness stand, allowing him to avoid the risk of a potentially brutal cross-examination.
“You don’t want to testify, correct?” Donnelly asked Kelly. He responded: “Yes, ma’am.”
The defense completed a short case on Wednesday that relied on a handful of former Kelly employees and other associates. Most of the defense witnesses said they never saw Kelly abuse anyone. One even said Kelly was “chivalrous” to his girlfriends. Another admitted he owed Kelly for his break in the music business and wanted to see him beat the charges.
Meanwhile, a judge at a hearing Wednesday in Chicago said that a criminal case there against Kelly will remain on hold until the New York trial is over.