Latest News on R.Kelly trial.
The woman said Mr Kelly assaulted her sexually and physically when she was 16 – the first time several R&B star prosecutors had spoken in a criminal case.
R. Kelly, who is accused of injuring women and girls through a combination of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, is facing his first criminal case since 2008.
R. Kelly, who is accused of injuring women and girls through a combination of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, is facing his first criminal case since 2008.
When Jerhonda Pace met R. Kelly for the first time, she was 16 years old and was happy to be in the presence of someone who worshiped her, she said. But for more than the next six months, he testified in a Brooklyn courtroom on Wednesday, Mr. Kelly had sex with him at a young age and physically and emotionally abused him.
After more than two decades of prosecution, Ms. Pace, now 28, was the first of Mr. Kelly’s prosecutors to testify against the R&B star, whose long-awaited criminal case began Wednesday.
The singer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, used his popularity and musical talent to get involved in the odds, prosecutors said. Ms. Pace’s account provided the first glimpse of the system of sexual and physical abuse that the former artist is accused of leading for more than two decades.
As she testified, Ms. Pace described being forced to comply with strict restrictions – what she called “Rob’s Laws” – whenever she visited Lord Kelly’s house. He had to call her “Father,” she said, and greeted him every time he entered the room.
But in one case, he did not.
“That’s when he slapped me and pushed me until I was dead,” he said, recalling falling on the floor of the room. Mr. Kelly’s house in the Chicago area. “I remember he just put his hand on my neck.”
He added, “He spat in my face and told me to bow my head in shame,” before Mr. Kelly forced him to have sex with her.
The R&B singer’s appearance on Wednesday showed only the second time his fate would be decided by a panel of judges in a criminal court. The case has been eagerly awaited since Mr Kelly’s sexual behavior was re-examined during the culmination of the #MeToo movement.
Mr Kelly has completely denied all charges against him, and his lawyers on Wednesday named Ms Pace and her other accusers as fans and groups struggling to gain popularity.
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