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Associated Press
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CHICAGO (AP) — A woman prosecutors allege had been sexually manipulating R. Kelly since he was about 14 years old was arrested Thursday. testified against child pornography and sabotage. She was the first accuser to testify in the singer's hometown of Chicago.
The woman, now 37, was referred to as "Minor 1" in pretrial filings and under the pseudonym "Jane" during the trial. was a central figure in Kelly's legal troubles. she is over 20 years old. Prosecutors say a video of Kelly having sex with Jane around 2000 led to the singer's initial investigation. Explaining that she grew up in a musical family outside of Chicago, Jane said she was homeschooled because she was in a touring music group she joined when she was 12 years old.
One of the most serious charges the Grammy winner will face in federal court is his 2008 state child pornography charges stemming from a video of him and Jane having sex. It is a conspiracy to obstruct justice that allegedly manipulated the 1999 trial. Among other things, prosecutors say Kelly retaliated and threatened Jane not to testify at the trial. She didn't, and he was eventually acquitted.
Kelly is also on trial for creating child pornography and soliciting a minor for sex.
Unlike the 2008 trial, Jane has cooperated with prosecutors leading up to the current trial and has been a pivotal witness.
The Chicago conviction adds to his 30-year prison sentence already served this year by a New York federal judge for using his fame to sexually abuse other young fans. Potentially adding decades. At that trial, various accusers testified.
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Jane first met Kelly in the late 1990s when she was in middle school. She was tagging along to Kelly's Chicago recording studio with her aunt, a professional singer who works with Kelly. Shortly after that meeting, Jane told her parents that Kelly would be her godfather.
At the age of three, he shot a video of Jane in a log cabin-themed room in his North Side Chicago home. She can be heard calling the girl "Daddy". Federal prosecutors say she and Kelly had sex hundreds of times over the years in their home, recording studio, and tour bus. Kelly, a star turned singer, songwriter and producer, knew a 2008 conviction would effectively end his life, so prosecutors say he conspired to fix it. increase. trial.
According to prosecutors, Kelly told his parents and Jane to leave Chicago and paid for travel to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. When they returned, prosecutors say Kelly tried to isolate Jane and moved her to another hotel. 's father and mother denied it was her.
Tears streamed down his face on June 13, 2008, when he was acquitted of all charges of child pornography. Some jurors told reporters after the trial they weren't sure the woman in the video was who state prosecutors said she was.
2008 Prior to her 2019 trial, Kelly carried a duffel bag full of sex tapes everywhere she went for years, although some tapes later went missing, according to court filings.
In the early 2000s, an aunt showed her parents a copy of a video showing her daughter having sex with Kelly. When they confronted Kelly, he told them, "Are you for or against me," government filings say. rice field.
Kelly, who denies cheating, has been hounded for decades by complaints and allegations about his sexual behavior.The #MeToo era and his 2019 The scrutiny intensified after his six-part documentary, Surviving R. Kelly.
Kelly also faces four lawsuits against him for sexually seducing minors. They are also expected to testify.
Prosecutors told jurors that the evidence included at least three videos showing Kelly having sex with underage girls.
Two of Kelly's colleagues, Derell McDavid and Milton Brown, are co-defendants. McDavid was accused of helping Kelly fix a 2008 trial, and Brown was charged with receiving child pornography.Like Kelly, they also deny any wrongdoing.
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