“This case is a couple of predator:” R. Kelly’s racketeering trial begins in New York
R&B star R. Kelly masterminded a decades-long intercourse trafficking plot and used his fame to use women, boys and younger ladies, prosecutors alleged as his federal racketeering trial started in New York Wednesday.
“This case is a couple of predator,” Assistant U.S. Lawyer for the Japanese District of New York Maria Cruz Melendez stated in her opening assertion.
The 54-year-old Kelly, who additionally has pending felony instances in Minnesota and Illinois, faces 10 years to life in jail if he’s convicted within the New York case. His racketeering indictment contains underlying counts of sexual exploitation of a kid, bribery, kidnapping, compelled labor and violations of the Mann Act, which criminalizes the transportation of ladies and women for any “immoral goal.” He has pleaded not responsible.
Jerhonda Tempo was the primary of Kelly’s accusers to take the stand, testifying she was a 16-year-old fan of Kelly’s when he invited her to his home in 2009. Tempo and 5 different ladies within the indictment are referred to in courtroom filings as “Jane Does,” however Tempo has spoken publicly about her accusations.
Tempo recounted an incident at Kelly’s residence that yr when he ordered her to stroll forwards and backwards whereas in her bathing go well with after which to take the go well with off.
“I felt uncomfortable,” she stated.
She testified she ultimately had intercourse with Kelly, and when she instructed him she was a virgin, he replied, “That is good.” Tempo stated she initially instructed Kelly she was 19, however when she revealed her true age, Kelly instructed her to proceed telling individuals she was 19 and act as if she had been 21.
Kelly has steadfastly maintained his innocence, together with in an explosive 2019 interview with CBS Information’ Gayle King.
Kelly appeared within the Brooklyn federal courtroom sporting a grey go well with earlier than an nameless jury of seven males and 5 ladies as proceedings began Wednesday morning. No cameras had been allowed to broadcast the proceedings, and media watched by way of a video feed from an overflow courtroom.
The New York federal indictment alleges the disgraced singer operated a felony community composed of his managers, bodyguards, drivers, assistants and others who recruited kids and girls at live performance venues the place he was performing within the U.S. and overseas. As soon as he had the accusers alone, Melendez stated Wednesday, he “dominated and managed them bodily, sexually and psychologically.” Melendez described an enterprise of individuals dedicated to Kelly and desperate to “fulfill every and everybody one of many defendant’s needs and calls for.”
“What his success and recognition introduced him was entry, entry to ladies, boys and younger ladies,” she stated.
However Kelly’s attorneys have blasted the alleged racketeering enterprise as an overreach by prosecutors, saying in a single courtroom submitting the ladies sought out Kelly’s consideration and years later have “groupie regret.” Kelly’s lawyer, Nicole Clean Becker, stated Wednesday the ladies loved the “notoriety of with the ability to inform their associates that they had been with a celebrity.”
“He did not recruit them. They had been followers. They got here to Mr. Kelly,” she stated. “They knew precisely what they had been stepping into. It was no secret Mr. Kelly had a number of girlfriends. He was fairly clear.”
Becker stated the ladies had an agenda and warned jurors they would want to sift via a “mess of lies.” She added that the entire accusers had a consensual relationship with Kelly and urged they had been indignant after the relationships ended. Some witnesses would admit they cheated, lied or stole cash from Kelly, Becker stated.
“Do not assume everyone’s telling the reality,” she stated.
Identified for his 1996 tune “I Consider I Can Fly” and different chart-topping hits, Kelly has for years confronted allegations of sexual abuse. He was acquitted in 2008 of kid pornography costs when a key witness didn’t testify. A sequence of ladies later got here ahead with accusations of abuse within the 2019 Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” prompting public outcry over the allegations within the #MeToo period. The singer was charged with federal intercourse crimes in New York and Chicago the identical yr.
The indictment says the ladies and women, many underage, had been allegedly sexually and bodily abused and typically held captive, confined to rooms and barred from leaving to eat or go to the lavatory with out permission from Kelly. The indictment alleges Kelly enforced guidelines together with calling him “Daddy,” sporting dishevelled clothes when not with him, and conserving their heads down and never different males. Kelly “demanded absolute obedience,” and there have been penalties for those who did not comply with the foundations, Melendez stated.
The prosecutor additionally stated Kelly collected collateral on the ladies or resorted to settlements to maintain them quiet. Kelly is accused of filming among the unlawful intercourse acts and forcing the ladies and women to put in writing notes containing reputation-damaging falsehoods as a way of controlling them. Melendez instructed jurors they’d hear testimony from Kelly’s former associates and see textual content messages, telephone and journey data, and video and audio recordings that present the punishments Kelly enacted on the ladies.
Prosecutors have additionally requested a decide to permit the jury to listen to about greater than a dozen different accusers – together with two who had been underage boys on the time – who weren’t a part of the indictment, however whose tales they hope will bolster their case that Kelly had a sample of exploitation. The authorized technique has been utilized by prosecutors in different #MeToo period instances in opposition to Invoice Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. A decide has not but dominated on whether or not to permit the extra testimony.
Costanza Maio and The Related Press contributed reporting.