A woman who was a minor when she appeared in a sex tape with R. Kelly testified Thursday at the start of the singer’s trail in Chicago.
Now 37, the woman identified only by the pseudonym “Jane,” said she was 14 when Kelly recorded the sexual assault. The tape was anonymously sent to a reporter in 2002, leading to Kelly’s arrest on a child pornography charge. But, the R&B star was acquitted because Jane denied being the girl in the video and refused to testify against him.
On Thursday, Jane said she was testifying under an immunity agreement because she lied under oath to a grand jury in 2002. She said she began engaging in sex acts with Kelly when she was 14 and had sexual intercourse with him “hundreds” of times between the ages of 15 and 18.
Kelly is now on trial on a number of charges including producing and receiving child pornography, enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and obstruction. He has pleaded not guilty.
In opening statements to jurors on Wednesday, a lawyer for Kelly tried to cast doubt on what they would hear from Jane.
“For the last 22 years, she has adamantly denied that it was her in that video,” Jennifer Bonjean said. “Before there was any criminal investigation, she denied it. She denied it repeatedly to prosecutors, she denied it to social workers to police officers. She denied it under oath to a grand jury.”
Jane is expected to be back on the stand on Friday. She is one of five people prosecutors allege were minors when they were sexually abused by Kelly.
R. Kelly: iHeartRadio.ca Music News Coverage
In June, Kelly was sentenced in New York to 30 years in prison after being found guilty last September of one count of racketeering – which included 14 underlying acts including sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping and bribery – and eight counts of sex trafficking.
Nine women and two men testified during the six-week trial about how Kelly used his fame to lure them with promises of helping them in the music business. Several said they were underage when he sexually assaulted them.
Kelly is a successful Grammy-winning R&B artist best known for hits like “I Believe I Can Fly,” “Bump n’ Grind” and “Ignition (Remix).” He also did collaborations with a long list of artists, including Canada’s Céline Dion and Justin Bieber and produced several tracks for Michael Jackson and acts like B2K, Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston.