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published photo, Reuters
Kelly upon arriving at a hearing in Chicago in 2019.
In Brooklyn, New York, the trial of R. Kelly, singer and R&B star begins. The star, accused of extortion, sexual assault and bribery, has repeatedly denied the charges.
Some of the allegations against the singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, date back more than 20 years. If found guilty on all counts, he could be sentenced to decades in prison.
Opening statements are presented to a jury of seven men and five women, and these testimonies will decide the fate of the 54-year-old singer.
Kelly is accused of having been for two decades at the head of a gang that hunted underage women and girls for sexual purposes.
“This case concerns a sex offender,” said United States Deputy Prosecutor Maria Melendez in her opening statement.
She described Kelly as “a man who used lies, manipulation, threats and physical assault to control his victims and evaded responsibility for years.”
“He’s a man who has used his decades-old fame and network of people at his disposal to target and exploit girls, boys and women for his sexual gratification,” she said.
Dressed in a gray suit, purple tie and glasses, the Grammy-winning artist sat in silence, sometimes lowering his head as the prosecution opened its case file.
Melendez said Kelly’s great popularity allowed him to “choose the young women he liked” and that he made his victims “like things”.
She said Kelly used “every possible circumvention tactic used by sex offenders.”
Melendez added that the singer used bodyguards, drivers, lawyers and accountants to cover up the crimes.
He also alleged that he bribed his victims by photographing and filming them having sex and then threatening them to post what he had in pictures and tapes.
Kelly is accused of asking victims to show “absolute commitment” and abide by strict rules, including eating or using the bathroom only with her permission, and not looking at other men.
Kelly pleaded not guilty and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
The trial, which has been repeatedly delayed due to the pandemic, is expected to last around a month and include details of Kelly’s abuse, including testimony from some of his female victims as well as a man.
Even though he is acquitted, Kelly still faces sexual assault charges in Illinois and Minnesota, where he also pleaded not guilty.
Kelly has been in prison for two years. He was transferred in June to Brooklyn from Chicago for trial.
On her way to court, BBC producer Monica Miller said: “On a wet and cloudy Wednesday morning in Brooklyn, Kelly’s supporters and fans were screaming for her release as they marched.”
“The parents of Jocelyn Savage, who lived with R Kelly and claims to be his victim, have arrived,” she added.
what matters directed at him?
published photo, Getty Images
The singer faced numerous sexual charges in the 1990s.
Kelly and his associates are accused of poaching underage women and girls to engage in illegal sex with the singer.
The allegations date back to the start of his career in the 1990s, and many accusations center around his alleged harassment of teenage girls for sexual purposes.
Kelly currently faces multiple state and federal charges, including sexual assault, child abuse, inappropriate photographing of minors, extortion and obstruction of justice.
The nine-count indictment describes Kelly’s sexual assault of five girls, three of whom were believed to be minors at the time.
Kelly’s lawyers are expected to claim that some of the alleged victims were her fans, who initially agreed to have sex.
One of the defendants said Kelly had unprotected sex with her without revealing that he had herpes.
The prosecution will also attempt to show that Kelly bribed an Illinois official in 1994 to obtain a false identity for singer Alia, then 15, so they could get married.
published photo, Getty Images
Kelly wrote a few songs for the American singer Aaliyah
Kelly allegedly caused a high pregnancy.
Prosecutors said the marriage certificate showed Alia was 18. And Aliyah, who is widely regarded as the character named Jane Doe # 1 in the indictment, died in a plane crash in 2001.
The lawsuit comes after years of suspicion and accusations against Kelly, much of which is discussed in the 2019 documentary Surviving R. Kelly.
But Kelly was acquitted the only time Kelly faced criminal charges, for child pornography, in 2008.
The prosecution team arrives at Brooklyn courthouse.
Kelly himself was sexually abused as a child and explained in his autobiography how a family member raped him when he was eight years old.
He has been detained since July 2019, after his request for bail was denied the following month.
In March 2012, prosecutors confiscated more than 100 electronic devices, including smartphones, iPads and hard drives, from a storage facility containing equipment Kelly uses on her concert tours.
Aides was then charged with witness intimidation in August of that year, and soon after, the singer himself was attacked in his sleep by an inmate at a Chicago jail.
In June 2021, just two months before the start of his trial, Kelly’s lawyers had long asked him to withdraw from the case.
Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard have said it is “impossible” for them to work with two of the new lawyers the star has hired.
Earlier this month, during a preliminary hearing, it was confirmed that Kelly admitted to having an affair with late singer Alia when she was underage.
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