Video After The Jump
R&B singer R. Kelly is a “predator” who used his fame — and an army of devoted associates — to sexually exploit “girls, boys and young women” who he made call him “Daddy,” a federal prosecutor told jurors at the start of his racketeering and sex crimes trial on Wednesday.
Kelly, 54, distributed backstage passes so children and women would join him after shows, then got them alone and “dominated and controlled them physically, sexually and psychologically,” Brooklyn Assistant US Attorney Maria Melendez said.
The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer even recorded sex acts with minors as part of the sick scheme, beat some victims, locked one in a room for several days and gave at least two of them herpes while knowingly infected with the sexually transmitted disease, she said.
“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Cruz Melendez told the seven-man, five-woman jury.
“This case is about a predator who used his fame, popularity, and network to target, groom and exploit girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.”
She added: “He used his money, clout and public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight.”
The prosecutor also detailed a series of allegations against Kelly, including that he and members of his entourage bribed an official in Chicago to obtain a fake ID for the late singer Aaliyah, so they could get married when he was 27 and she was just 15.
Aaliyah — who died in a plane crash at 22 — had told Kelly she was pregnant and he hatched the wedding plan in a bid to prevent her from testifying against him, Cruz Melendez said during her opening statement.
Source: New York Post
Follow Me
}
Comments