Kelly
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Trigger warning: This article contains detailed information on sexual assault and abuse.
- Louis-using a pseudonym-was the first person to testify against R. Kelly, saying that he was asked what he “willing to do for music”.
- The singer has been accused of sex crimes; he denies all charges and if found guilty, he will face 10 years to life imprisonment.
- Louis said that he met the singer at the age of 17, and had many sexual encounters with him and others, and he promised to help him develop a music career.
According to the testimony of the first singer who was publicly opposed to being accused of a sexual crime, R. Kelly asked a teenage boy “what he would like to do for music” before he sexually abused him.
In heavy testimony on Monday, the 32-year-old man stated that he was connected to Kelly’s entourage and pleaded guilty in 2021 in an attempt to bribe a woman who might testify against the musician.
But more than ten years ago, Louis used a pseudonym to say that he first met Kelly in 2006, when he was 17 years old and worked the night shift at McDonald’s in the suburbs of Chicago.
He told the Brooklyn Federal Court that Kelly told him his phone number.
After he and his parents attended the Kelly’s party, the singer told him “maybe it’s the best time for me to come to the party alone” and said that he can perform in his studio and maybe get some industry hint.
Louis was invited under the guise of working in music. He said that once he met Kelly at home and they went to the separate garage, where there is a boxing ring and gym.
“He asked what I would do for music,” the witness said, describing the singer asking him if he had “fantasies” before performing oral sex on him.
Louis said Kelly told him “put it between me and him” and said “we are now family, our brother.”
He said that Kelly asked Louis to call him “dad”—as many women said, the singer asked them to do so—and would regularly film their sexual encounters.
As part of the cooperation agreement he signed in February 2021, Louis appeared in court on Monday to testify, under which he hopes to avoid up to 15 years in prison.
He had provided funds to potential witnesses of Kelly arrested in 2019, hoping that this person would not “cooperate” with federal prosecutors.
Louis said he was concerned that the witness, who did not want to be named, had a sex tape of him and Kelly.
It is unclear where Louis obtained at least US$200,000 (about R3 million) that he hoped to pay witnesses, but he told the court that Kelly was not aware of his bribery attempt.
‘uncomfortable’
Prosecutors have been providing scorching testimony from the accuser to portray Kelly’s physical, sexual and emotional abuse for more than two decades.
The 54-year-old denied all charges, and if found guilty, he will face 10 years to life imprisonment.
Kelly remained stoic throughout the proceedings, but looked very excited on Monday, rubbing his forehead, holding his chin in his hands, and fidgeting while wearing a mask.
Louis recalled an episode where he and another person had sex without consent, saying that Kelly “snapped his fingers” before “a young lady came out from under the (boxing) ring.”
The court learned that before performing oral sex on Kelly and Louis, “she crawled over to him”.
“It’s very uncomfortable,” Louis said. He described another example when he passed out after drinking at a party and woke up alone with the defendant, not sure if they had sexual contact.
Louis did not identify his identity in the indictment against Kelly, which accused him of extortion, sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, bribery and forced labor between 1994 and 2018.
Extortion charges allow prosecutors to provide evidence of potential crime outside the scope of the charges, even if it exceeds the statute of limitations.
Also on Monday, a woman named Eddie said that Kelly raped her in front of her friends at a concert at the age of 17 in 1994. She was not the alleged victim of the accusation. By.
“I was totally shocked,” she said. “I’m just blank.”
She said she was afraid to call the police: “I don’t even know if they will believe me,” she said, adding that “I don’t want to be a victim in this industry” or “blacklist.”
The trial has now entered its third week and is expected to last at least one month.
