Dozens of witnesses have recounted for more than a month the alleged abuses of R. Kelly against numerous women in the case presented by New York prosecutors, who accuse him of sex trafficking and which concluded their accusation today.
Prosecutors for the Eastern District Court of New York have questioned at least 10 women who say they have been abused by Robert Sylvester Kelly, 54, and dozens of other witnesses since August 18, when the proceedings began. that detailed a continuing pattern of abuse.
The women have described on the stage a charismatic celebrity who frequently chose young victims who attended his concerts, who he sometimes sexually assaulted behind the scenes minutes after the event, according to local media.
“He was either very nice and jovial or very controlling and intimidating,” said one of the prosecution witnesses, identified as Stephanie, who alleged that Kelly abused her when she was 17 in the late 1990s.
She also said that Kelly used to compare her sexual preferences for minors with those of popular rock star Jerry Lee Lewis, who at age 22 married his 13-year-old cousin.
The testimonies revealed Kelly’s repetitive method, forcing his partners to call him “daddy” (daddy) and controlling the way he dressed, when they could use the bathroom or eat, how they interacted with other men, and whether they could leave the rooms. rooms of residences or hotels in which he kept them.
He also forced women to write and sign letters in which they falsely acknowledged that they had stolen money or jewelry, or that they had been sexually assaulted by relatives, some writings that he later used to blackmail them.
According to witnesses, the person in charge of “I Believe I Can Fly” , who was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008, was obsessed with recording sexual acts, many times without asking permission from his partners, and would also have been violent .
The singer is also accused of transmitting sexual diseases to two of his victims after frequently refusing to use condoms in their relationships.
Likewise, the illegal marriage that the artist contracted with the late singer Aaliyah when she was only 15 years old was discussed in a 10-minute ceremony that took place thanks to the fact that Kelly’s manager bribed an official to issue a document of identity that reflected that he was of legal age.
Kelly is accused by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for crimes of organized crime, coercion and transporting women and girls to carry out illegal sexual activities in the United States for two decades, charges similar to those he faces in Chicago, where he was behind bars. since his arrest in 2019 until last June.
After presenting his case, it is now the turn of Kelly’s defense to present their arguments and their witnesses.
The artist has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claims that the young complainants were followers who “were dying to be with him” , and that they only began to accuse him of abuse years later, when the MeToo movement gained strength.
In addition to the federal charges he faces in New York and Chicago, Kelly is the subject of statewide indictments in Illinois and Minnesota.