‘R Kelly had a dark side’: Singer’s child pornography and trial fixing case begins
R Kelly had “a dark side”, jurors were told, as the US singer’s child pornography and trial-fixing case began in Chicago.
Prosecutors said Kelly “had another side” to his public persona in their opening statements on Wednesday.
They alleged he “repeatedly” had sex with girls who were just 14, 15 and 16 years old, “multiple girls, hundreds of times.”
The superstar is accused of enticing minors for sex, producing child pornography and rigging his 2008 pornography trial at which he was acquitted.
Meanwhile Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lead attorney, said: “When the government wants to paint him as a monster. You remember we are talking about a human being.
“It is true that Mr. Kelly is imperfect,” she said. “On his journey from poverty to stardom, he stumbled along the way.”
But, she said, she was confident jurors would ultimately find him not guilty.
Lawyers for two Kelly co-defendants will also address jurors before the government begins calling witnesses later on Wednesday. Prosecutors haven’t said who they will call first.
One central focus of the trial will be on whether Kelly threatened and paid off a girl with whom he allegedly videotaped himself having sex with when he was about 30 and she was no older than 14.
That’s the allegation underpinning another of the charges against Kelly - conspiracy to obstruct justice.Jurors in the 2008 child pornography trial acquitted Kelly, with some later explaining that they felt they had no choice because the girl did not testify.
The woman, now in her 30s, will be the government’s main witness. When she testifies, she will be referred to by a single pseudonym, “Jane.”
Kelly, 55, has already been sentenced by a New York federal judge to a 30-year prison term for a 2021 conviction on charges that he used his fame to sexually abuse other young fans.
Kelly, who rose from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to become a star singer, songwriter and producer, will be around 80 before qualifying for early release based on his sentence imposed in New York, which he is appealing.
Kelly faces four counts of enticement of minors for sex — one each for four other accusers. They, too, are expected to testify.
Two Kelly associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, are co-defendants at the Chicago trial. McDavid is accused of helping Kelly fix the 2008 trial, while Brown is charged with receiving child pornography.
Like Kelly, they also have denied wrongdoing.
