‘Predator’ Kelly had ‘pick of young fans’
YORK: Prosecutors described R. Kelly as a “predator” who used his fame to groom minors for sex, as an accuser told the opening day of his much-anticipated New York trial on Wednesday that the R&B star used to slap her for violating his “rules”.
The Grammy-winning artist – wearing a grey suit and purple tie – sat silently, his head down at times, as the prosecution laid out a pattern of violent abuse inside the Brooklyn federal courtroom.
Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez described Kelly as “a man who for decades used his fame, his popularity and a network of people at his disposal to target, groom and exploit young girls, boys and women for his own sexual gratification”.
The 54-year-old is charged with racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery and forced labour between 1994 and 2018.
He denies the charges. He faces between 10 years and life in prison if convicted on all counts.
The trial, expected to last a month, finally got under way after a delay of more than a year caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The government’s first witness, identified as Jerhonda, said Kelly would film their sexual activity when she was 16, below the age of consent.
The now-28-year-old said the musician said he was going to “train me how to please him sexually”.
Her testimony came after Ms Melendez said Kelly’s celebrity status meant he “had his pick of young fans” and that he hoarded his victims “like objects”.
She said he used “every trick in the predator handbook”, approaching minors ad grooming them and their families with promises he could help their careers before sexually abusing them.
Ms Melendez said that the singer used bodyguards, drivers, runners, lawyers and accountants to cover up crimes. He bribed his victims by photographing and filming them having sex with him and then threatening to release the tapes, she said.
The musician, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, “exacted cruel and demeaning punishments” to those who violated demands, including “violent spankings and beatings”, the prosecutor added.
Defence lawyer Nicole Blank Becker said the victims were aggrieved groupies who consented to sex before becoming “spiteful” after the relationships ended.