Philippine Daily Inquirer

Prosecutor calls R. Kelly a ‘predator’ at sex abuse trial

-

NEW YORK—R. Kelly is a “predator” who demanded absolute fealty from the many women and underage girls he recruited for sex in a two-decade racketeeri­ng scheme, a federal prosecutor said on Wednesday as the R&B star’s sex abuse trial began.

Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez told a jury of seven men and five women in Brooklyn federal court that Kelly, 54, used “lies, manipulati­on, threats and physical abuse” to dominate his victims, and often filmed their sexual encounters.

The indictment describes Kelly’s alleged dealings with six women and girls, including the late singer Aaliyah, who was 15 when she married Kelly.

“This case is about a predator,” Melendez said in her opening statement. “This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot.”

Former fans

But Kelly’s lawyer Nicole Blank Becker said the government’s case had “gaps,” and that Kelly’s accusers, including several whose names are not public, were former fans who turned on him because they were unhappy their relationsh­ips didn’t work out.

“They knew exactly what they were getting into,” Becker said. “The relationsh­ips Mr. Kelly had with the various Jane Does were consenting relationsh­ips.”

Kelly, a three-time Grammy winner whose songs include “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Bump N’ Grind,” has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that include accusation­s of bribery and extortion. He has strongly denied wrongdoing. Prosecutor­s will argue that Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, used an entourage of managers, bodyguards and others to recruit victims, sometimes at concerts.

Melendez said Kelly would require victims to get his permission before doing virtually anything, including going to the bathroom, and blackmail them by threatenin­g to release self-incriminat­ing letters he forced them to write if they fled.

Some female accusers—and at least one male accuser—are

expected to testify for the government. The trial was delayed several times by the coronaviru­s pandemic and is expected to last about one month.

It is the culminatio­n of years of suspicions and accusation­s against Kelly, many discussed in the 2019 Lifetime documentar­y “Surviving R. Kelly,” and nearly four years after the start of the #MeToo era.

More charges

Kelly has been jailed for more than two years, and could face decades in prison if convicted.

Even if he is acquitted, he still faces sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota, where he has also pleaded not guilty.

Melendez said one accuser, Sonya, was sexually abused nearly two decades ago at Kelly’s studio in Chicago, where the 22-year-old hoped to interview him for a radio station where she worked.

The prosecutor said Sonya was locked in a room at the studio for three days, and lost consciousn­ess soon after being let out and fed. Upon awakening, Sonya felt wetness between her legs, saw Kelly fastening his pants, and realized she had been sexually assaulted, Melendez said.

The six alleged victims in the indictment, four of whom were underage, are identified as Jane Does No. 1 through No. 6.

Prosecutor­s will try to show that Kelly bribed an Illinois official in 1994 to obtain fake identifica­tion for Aaliyah, who is Jane Doe No. 1 and whose marriage license showed her age as 18, so that they could marry.

According to prosecutor­s, Kelly believed he had impregnate­d Aaliyah, and hoped a marriage would keep her from having to testify against him. Aaliyah died in a 2001 plane crash.

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? R. Kelly
R. Kelly

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines