*Warning: You may find some of the statements in this news article disturbing*
Singer R. Kelly, convicted of blackmail and sex trafficking in the US, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. The victims of American singer Kelly testified in a New York courtroom last year about the abuse and mistreatment they suffered during a trial that lasted more than five weeks. R. Kelly was found guilty last year, but his sentence was announced today. Kelly will also pay a fine of 100 thousand dollars.
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At last year’s trial, 11 men and women, some of whom testified on condition of anonymity, said they had sexual relations with Kelly when they were minors. In their testimony, they described the singer as a controlling personality with a violent temper.
They also said that Kelly asked to be addressed as “Daddy”.
Some of the women who testified said they were forced to write blackmail letters containing false testimony to be used against them in the future.
So what did the victims tell the court about the singer, who faces life in prison?
One of the witnesses, identified in the indictment as “Number 5” Jane Doe (the generic name given to anonymous female victims or witnesses in the US), testified that she met Kelly in 2015 when she was a 17-year-old aspiring artist and was repeatedly abused during a five-year relationship.
This witness, now 23 years old, testified that she contracted herpes, a type of sexually transmitted infection, after first having a relationship with the singer when she was 17.
“This man knowingly gave me something he knew was in his body, something he could have controlled,” the witness said, noting that Kelly did not tell him he had a sexually transmitted disease, even though he was legally required to make a statement.
Kelly’s doctor confirmed in court testimony that the singer had been given medication for a “herpes” infection since 2007.
The 23-year-old woman said she confronted Kelly about the infection, but the singer suddenly became angry and replied, “You could have gotten it from anyone.”
“I told him I was only with you,” the witness said, adding that when it became impossible for her to have sex because of the pain, R. Kelly told her, “Your body is broken.”
‘I was forced to smear feces on my face’
Another female witness, who testified under the name Faith, said she was infected with “herpes” from the singer.
Another woman, who asked to be identified as Kate, stated that the legal process she initiated against Kelly for infecting her with the virus ended with a $ 200,000 settlement agreement.
Kate also testified that her entire life was controlled by Kelly and that she was “punished” if she thought she was disobedient.
Witness Kate also testified that Kelly used violence against her “every 2-3 days, resulting in her skin being torn”.
Kate also said she became pregnant by the singer and was forced to have an abortion.
She also testified that Kelly forced her to make videos in which she was forced to smear feces on her face, and that she was constantly threatened to make these videos because she “didn’t get smart”.
Witness Jerhonda Pace
The prosecution’s first witness, Jerhonda Johnson Pace, testified that Kelly had sexual intercourse with her in Chicago in 2009, when she was under the age of 17. (Under the city’s laws, the age limit for consensual sex is 17.)
Jerhonda, now 28, said that she told R. Kelly that she was 19 when they first met, but that she confessed her real age the first time they were together.
In her testimony to the court, Jerhonda said she was asked to wear “girl scout outfits with her hair in a tail” and was forced to make videos of sexual intercourse.
Jerhonda Johnson Pace also said that Kelly forced her to ask his permission to use the restroom. Pace said that if she was angry with him, she was forced to wait for days.
Under cross-examination by Kelly’s lawyers, Jerhonda Pace admitted that she made $25,000 from a book she wrote about her relationship with the singer.
What are you willing to do for your music career?
Among those testifying in court were two men who said they were sexually abused by Kelly.
The witness, who testified under the name Louis, said he met Kelly in 2006 when he was 17 years old and working the night shift at McDonald’s. Luis testified that Kelly invited him to his home to record music and at one point asked him “what are you willing to do for a music career?”
Luis also claimed that Kelly performed “oral sex” on him while he was still a minor and that he later told him that “it was between the two of them”.
Another witness, Alex, said he met Kelly when he was still in high school and they began a relationship when he was 20.
She said that Kelly tried to forcibly kiss her and told her to “keep an open mind”.
One of Alex’s key allegations also led to R. Kelly being charged with sex trafficking.
According to this allegation, R. Kelly found women to have sex with Alex to videotape and recorded these relationships for his own pleasure.
Alex also said that the women he was with “looked like zombies” as if they had been drugged.
Another woman, who testified under the name Addie, testified that the singer raped her backstage after a concert in Miami.
‘I was completely shocked. I wasn’t myself’
Addie, who went to the concert with her friend, said that two men posing as bodyguards approached them after the concert and invited them backstage.
Explaining that she was brutally raped by Kelly when she entered the backstage, Addie said, “I was completely shocked. I was unconscious,” she said.
Witness Addie said that her friend wanted to contact the police after the incident, and that she was afraid of being blacklisted by the entertainment industry if she went to the authorities.
“I didn’t know if they would believe me or not, I didn’t want to be the victim who ended up being blamed,” Addie told the court.
The sexual assault occurred just two days after R. Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah, also a singer.
Aaliyah, who married Kelly at the age of 15 when she was still a minor, died in a plane crash at the age of 22. The duo’s marriage was annulled because it was not legal.
