During the six-week trial of singer R. Kelly, federal prosecutors called 45 witnesses, including former employees, a doctor who had been treating herpes for more than a decade, and relatives of his prosecutors. But the basis of the case is based on his meetings with several women, some of whose identities were hidden in court.
R&B singer Aaliyah
Mr. Kelly met Aliya in 1992 at her family home in Michigan and produced her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.
When she was 13, he began sexually abusing her, prosecutors said. In 1994, Mr Kelly married her illegally, believing she might be pregnant and trying to avoid prosecution. The two had a 10-minute ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel in the Chicago area. Their marriage was later annulled.
Alia, whose full name is Alia Dana Hotton, died in 2001 in a plane crash at the age of 22.
Jehonda Pace, the first prosecutor to testify
Ms. Pace took the position during the first two days of the trial, becoming the first prosecutor to ever testify against Mr. Kelly in court. She was also one of the first women to make public her accusations in a 2017 BuzzFeed article that sparked a round of public outrage against the singer.
She testified that Mr. Kelly had sex with her in 2009, when she was 16 and he was 40.
Angela, a backup singer who said she was in high school when the violence began
As the first victim to make a statement at the sentencing hearing, a woman who gave her name only as Angela said earlier that she had met Mr Kelly around 1991, when she was between 14 and 15 years old.
Mr. Kelly began having sex with her while she was a minor and a high school student, she testified during the trial last year. She also described how he often pressured her and several other backup performers to have sex.
Angela was also the first prosecutor to testify that she had seen Mr. Kelly and Alia perform sexual acts.
During the sentencing hearing, Angela stood in the rostrum as she looked straight at Mr. Kelly and spoke in an unwavering voice. She called Mr. Kelly Pied Piper, who entices children with her money and celebrity.
“With each addition of a new sacrifice, you grew in wickedness,” she said. “You used your fame and power to prepare and train underage boys and girls for your own sexual gratification.
“We are getting our names back today,” she said. “We are no longer the victims we were before.
Stephanie, who was also a minor when she was abused
A woman who spoke during the trial, giving only her first name Stephanie, said she approached Mr Kelly at a Nike store in 1999 when she was 17 to ask him for audition for a friend who aspired to be a singer.
Mr Kelly agreed in exchange for sexual services, she said. The next six months were “the shortest time of my life,” Stephanie told the jury.
At the sentencing hearing, Stephanie, who speaks fifth and was named Jane Doe II, described in detail how Mr. Kelly returned sweaty from basketball games with his friends before making her give him oral sex.
“I felt special because someone who was special to the world was interested in me,” she said, adding, “I hope you go to jail for the rest of your life.”
A woman who testifies under a pseudonym
The woman, who gave some of the brightest evidence of physical and sexual violence during the trial, initially backed Mr. Kelly in a high-profile interview with Gail King of CBS This Morning in 2019.
But she told jurors that the singer had often instructed her to rehearse answers to potential questions from reporters or the public, giving her the “right” answers – even if they were incorrect.
Faith, who said the singer did not reveal a sexually transmitted infection
Faith, who was the sixth woman to speak at the sentencing hearing, said during the trial that she began having sex with Mr Kelly in 2017 when she was 19. But the meetings became violent at times, she said then, and once Mr. Kelly led her into a room with a gun, grabbed her by the neck, and ordered her to have sex with him.
Shortly after another sexual intercourse, she was diagnosed with herpes. Faith said Mr. Kelly never told her she had the incurable disease. “I said, ‘Are you going to use a condom?'” She recalled, asking Mr. Kelly during their first sexual encounter. He said, “We don’t need a condom.”
During the hearing, Faith appeared with her father next to her. “I hope you forgive yourself,” she said as she cried. “I forgive myself.”
Sonya, who said she was imprisoned and raped
Sonia, who also spoke at the sentencing hearing, was a 22-year-old radio intern when she met Mr Kelly in front of a mall in Salt Lake City and he invited her to come to Chicago for an interview in 2003, according to an earlier testimony. .
But when she arrived, he said earlier, Mr Kelly locked her in a room in his studio for days. She had no food, but in the end they brought her something to eat. Then, after taking a few bites, she began to feel sleepy, she said. She told the jury that she later woke up and found that her underwear was draped over the sofa and Mr Kelly was lifting his trousers.
During the sentencing hearing, she described how Kelly would make people watch and follow her over the years. “I was scared for my life,” she said.
Sonya also emailed a statement to the court, which she did not want to read in full. But before leaving the department, she added, “I hope and pray to God that we can all heal.”
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