Jerhonda Johnson Pace, the first witness in the R&B singer, R.Kelly‘s racketeering and sex trafficking trial has testified on Wednesday in a Brooklyn federal court.
Gatekeepers News reports that R.Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is accused of racketeering, sexual abuse and bribery; some of which date back more than 20 years.
In her testimony, Pace told the jury that R. Kelly was aware that she was underage in 2009 when they had intercourse in Chicago, where the age of consent is 17.
According to Pace who is now 28, she had initially inform Kelly she was 19 but later revealed her real age on the day they had sex for the first time.
“I felt uncomfortable. I felt like it wasn’t right, that I should tell him my age.
“He asked me, ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ and told me to tell everyone I was 19 – and to act 21,” said Pace, who admits she had once been a fan of the singer.
Kelly is accused of being the ringleader of a two-decade-long scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex.
Kelly’s lawyer, Nicole Blank Becker in her opening argument said the alleged victims are aggrieved groupies, who originally consented to sex before later becoming “spiteful”.
“He didn’t recruit them. They were fans. They came to Mr Kelly,” she told the court, adding that some of the relationships were “beautiful” and “long-term”.
Becker portrayed R.Kelly as a victim of women, saying some enjoyed the “notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar”.
Meanwhile, Prosecutors described Kelly as “a man who used lies, manipulation, threats and physical abuse to dominate his victims and to avoid accountability for years”.
“This case is about a predator,” Assistant US Attorney, Maria Melendez said in her opening statement.
“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot.”
Melendez said Kelly’s celebrity status meant he “had his pick of young fans” and that he hoarded his victims “like objects” and used “every trick in the predator handbook”.
She argued that R.Kelly used bodyguards, drivers, lawyers and accountants to cover up his alleged crimes.
Melendez also said he bribed victims by photographing and filming them having sex and then threatening to release the tapes.
Kelly is accused of asking victims to display “absolute commitment” and obey strict rules, including that they eat or go to the bathroom only with his permission, not look at other men, and call him “Daddy”.
Gatekeepers News reports that R.Kelly, who has been in jail for the last two years, was moved in June to Brooklyn from Chicago for the trial. The singer’s trial was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some female accusers and at least one male accuser are expected to still testify.
Although he has denied all charges, and if the singer is acquitted, he still faces sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota, where he has also pleaded not guilty.
