Day 8 of the R. Kelly trial continued in federal court Monday. Monday’s proceedings included testimony from a male accuser who said Kelly abused him when he was a 17-year-old high school student.
The witness, testifying as the pseudonym “Louis,” said Kelly lured him to his home in 2007 with promises to help him jumpstart his music career. Once there, Kelly allegedly asked the victim if he ever fantasized about having sex with men. He described how Kelly “proceeded to give me oral sex,” even though, “I wasn’t into it,” USA Today reports.
This testimony follows revelations last week that Kelly allegedly forced a young woman and many of his victims to construct fraudulent blackmail letters that he would use if he was ever charged with sexually abusing them, The Associated Press reported.
The 23-year-old accuser, identifying as “Jane Doe,” stated the singer made her write a letter discussing what she would do if Kelly tried to break up with her. He forced her to write, “I’m going to tell everyone you raped me…I’m going to say you raped me since I was a minor.”
She also stated that the letter included a portion where he made her say, “she would spank herself really hard” and accuse him of physically abusing her.
While testifying, the accuser was met with opposition by Kelly’s defense who stated the letters weren’t orchestrated by the singer, but were instead a scheme devised by her parents who were looking to capitalize off of Kelly’s fame.
In 2015, the accuser and Kelly began engaging with one another, at that time the accuser was a 17-year-old girl who had aspirations of becoming a singer.
She said while she was a teen, the singer groomed her and forced her to have sex with another adult male, USA Today reported.
Aside from writing blackmail letters, Kelly also demanded the woman defend him in public, in order to prevent his image from being tarnished further.
In 2019, the accuser was living with Kelly and another woman at the Trump Tower condo in Chicago. He made her and his other live-in girlfriend practice potential interview questions that they may be asked by members of the media.
While taking the stand on Wednesday, she admitted that during her interview with King she had not answered questions honestly because Kelly was listening and she was fearful of the consequences.
Earlier Monday, a woman testified that Kelly sexually assaulted her when she was 17 after a Miami concert in 1994. Like “Louis,” the woman testified about uncharged crimes, which prosecutors hope will show Kelly’s “pattern” of criminal behavior with multiple victims beyond the six complaining witnesses.
As per USA Today, Kelly is also accused of knowingly infecting some victims with a sexually transmitted disease, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor and producing child pornography.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
