The prosecution’s star witness against R. Kelly testified for the first time on Thursday, telling a court in Chicago that she was girl — 14 at the time — seen in sex videos the singer made of their sexual encounters.
Kelly is on trial in federal court in Chicago on multiple charges, including enticement of minors for sex and conspiracy to obstruct justice in a 2008 trial, in which he allegedly intimidated and paid of the girl and her family. He has already been convicted in New York on charges there and sentenced to 30 years in prison, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Identified as “Minor 1” in court documents and called “Jane” in the courtroom, the now 37-year-old woman provided graphic testimony about their relationship, which began when her aunt introduced the two when she was 12 or 13, CBS News reports.
Her aunt, a musician working with Kelly at the time, brought Jane to Kelly’s studio and encouraged her to “sit on his lap,” “rub his head,” and “ask him to be her godfather.”
The sexual activity began with phone sex, Jane said, and turned physical when she was 14. She “lost her virginity” to Kelly the next year. She testified that Kelly gave her alcohol to “loosen” her up and played pornographic videos that included people she knew. He encouraged her to bring teenaged friends for group encounters .
She said she went along because she viewed him as an authority figure and was somewhat intimidated. After time, the sex became “normal,” she said, adding that the number of times she had sex with Kelly was “uncountable.”
“I developed feelings for Robert. He said he loved me. Said he would take care of me. Said he would protect me … it made me feel good,” she testified.
One of the videos Jane appeared in was used in Kelly’s child pornography trial in Cook County in 2008, in which he was acquitted. Jane didn’t testify at the trial and in fact denied she was in the video or abused by Kelly. Federal prosecutors, however, have said that Kelly paid Jane and her family to lie and intimidated them into keeping quiet.
In that video, Jane performed oral sex on Kelly in his jacuzzi, and then he urinated on her. Afterward, he gave her money. Asked why he gave her money, Jane sobbed on the stand.
“Because if anybody saw the tape … he wanted it to appear I was a prostitute,” she said.
Jane further testified that when her parents found out about the relationship — because one of the sex tapes leaked — Kelly paid to send them to the Caribbean so they couldn’t speak with authorities.
Jane’s testimony will continue on Friday.
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