On the trial-fixing charge, R. Kelly’s accuser will testify

R. Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago, which begins on Monday (Aug. 15), is, in many ways, a reenactment of his 2008 state child pornography trial, in which jurors acquitted the singer on charges that he produced a video of himself having sex with a girl no older than 14 when he was around 30 years old.
There is one important difference: prosecutors say she will testify this time.

One of the most serious charges against the Grammy Award winner during his federal prosecution is conspiracy to obstruct justice by manipulating the 2008 trial, which includes bribing and harassing the girl to ensure she did not testify.

The evidence of the lady, now in her 30s and referred to as “Minor 1” in court filings, will be essential. Kelly is also charged with four counts of luring minors into sexual behaviour, one count for each of the four other claims. Everyone is expected to give testimony.

A single conviction in Chicago may add decades to Kelly’s challenged New York sentence. Kelly will be around 80 years old before being eligible for early release under the New York sentence alone.

Prosecutors seek to play the identical VHS tape that was “Exhibit No. 1” in the 2008 trial during the federal trial. Unlike 14 years ago, when it was the sole film shown in the federal trial, at least three other videos will be shown.

Prosecutors claim Kelly videotaped Minor 1 between 1998 and 2000 in a log cabin-themed room in his North Side Chicago home, when she was as young as 13 years old. The girl is heard calling the man “daddy” in it. According to federal officials, she had sex with Kelly hundreds of times in his houses, recording studios, and tour buses throughout the years.

Kelly was carrying a duffle bag full of sex tapes everywhere he went for years before his 2008 trial, according to court documents, though some tapes eventually went missing. Bootleg versions of various videos began to appear on street corners around the United States in the early 2000s.

Kelly, who ascended from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to become a great singer, songwriter, and producer, was fully aware that his life as he knew it would be snuffed out if he was convicted in 2008.

Kelly, 55, appears in federal court in Chicago after being sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge in New York for a 2021 verdict on allegations that he used his celebrity to sexually assault other teenage devotees.