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First day of disgraced R&B star, R. Kelly’s sex abuse trial hears delivers familiar, yet sickening revelations, on extent of alleged wanton depravity against minor boys and girls

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>Prosecutors brand 54-year-old musician a &&num;8216&semi;predator&&num;8217&semi; who used his fame to lure in children and young women as part of a criminal enterprise where he sexually exploited his victims and trafficked them across state lines  <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>The sex abuse trial for R&amp&semi;B singer Robert Sylvester Kelly&comma; aka R&period; Kelly&comma; 54&comma; began in Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s Federal District Court Wednesday <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>In opening statements&comma; prosecutors branded Kelly a &&num;8216&semi;predator&&num;8217&semi; whose fame &&num;8216&semi;brought him access to girls&comma; boys and young women&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>Defense countered&comma; telling jurors not to &&num;8216&semi;assume everyone is telling the truth&comma;&&num;8217&semi; that his alleged victims were &&num;8216&semi;fans&&num;8217&semi; who enjoyed the &&num;8216&semi;notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>Judge earlier threw out the defense&&num;8217&semi;s final last-ditch attempt to dismiss the case <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>Kelly is accused of leading an underage sex ring where victims allegedly had to call him &&num;8216&semi;Daddy&&num;8217&semi; and had to ask his permission to use the bathroom <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>Federal prosecutors in Kelly&DiacriticalAcute;s sex trafficking case say he also had sexual contact with an underage boys in addition to girls&comma; and the government wants jurors in his upcoming trial to hear those claims&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>He&&num;8217&semi;s charged with one count of racketeering&comma; including 14 acts&comma; and eight counts of violating the Mann Act<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>One of the six alleged victims testifying against the defendant said he groomed and sexually abused her in 2010&comma; fully aware she was just 16 <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>&&num;8216&semi;Predator&&num;8217&semi; R&period; Kelly &&num;8216&semi;said &&num;8220&semi;that&&num;8217&semi;s good&&num;8221&semi; when the fan club member&comma; 16&comma; told him she was a virgin and the pair began a sexual relationship shortly after<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>During their abusive relationship Kelly once &&num;8216&semi;choked her until she passed out&&num;8217&semi; she told the court<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>The last time she saw him the victim said&comma; Kelly ejaculated on her face and she wiped Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s spit and semen on a blue T-shirt that was presented in court Wednesday as evidence <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;3f3535"><strong>If convicted&comma; Kelly could face life in prison &&num;8211&semi; Kelly also faces separate trials on sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Robert-R&period;-Kelly-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387558"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Embattled R&amp&semi;B singer Robert &&num;8216&semi;R&&num;8217&semi; Kelly&comma; 54&comma; allegedly lured a 16-year-old fan to his mansion and told her he was happy she was a virgin after meeting her when she attended his 2008 child porn trial&comma; a court hard&period;<strong> Trial of disgraced R&amp&semi;B&&num;8217&semi;s star on sex abuse charges began Wednesday<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The Singer Robert Sylvester Kelly&comma; better known by his stage name&comma; R&period; Kelly&comma; allegedly lured a 16-year-old fan to his mansion and told her he was happy she was a virgin after meeting her when she attended his 2008 child porn trial&comma; a court hard&period; Kelly who it is alleged&comma; has a life time of sexually preying on minors&comma; is on trial at Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s Federal District Court&comma; NYC&period; Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s long-anticipated federal trial began in New York with opening statements on Wednesday August 18<br>prosecution and defense both gave opening statements&comma; kicking off Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges relating to six women and underage girls and dating back almost three decades&period; <br>The trial of Kelly&comma; best known for his 1996 smash hit &&num;8216&semi;I Believe I Can Fly&comma;&&num;8217&semi; is coming after several delays due mostly to the pandemic&period;<br>If convicted&comma; Kelly could face life in prison&period;  He also faces separate trials on sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota&period;  <br>After opening statements the case got underway with victims&&num;8217&semi; testimonies&period; <br>Jerhonda Pace&comma; one of six women in the federal indictment&comma; took the stand in Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s Federal District Court Wednesday to testify against her alleged abuser&period; <br>Pace testified that she first met Kelly when she was just 14-years-old when she attended every day of his 2008 child pornography trial&comma; in which he was found not guilty due to lack of sufficient evidence&period;  <br>When Pace was 16 she said she went to a party and met up with Kelly&comma; claiming she was 19-years-old&period;  <br>She said Kelly remembered her from court and invited her back to his mansion a few days later where he told her to put on her swimsuit while he sat on a lounge chair and for her to walk back and forth while removing her swimsuit&period; <br>She said the two then began kissing and he performed oral sex on her but she &&num;8216&semi;felt uncomfortable&&num;8217&semi; lying about her age&comma; so she told him she was actually 16 and showed him her state ID as proof&comma; and Kelly asked  &&num;8216&semi;What is that supposed to mean&quest;&&num;8217&semi; <a rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;buzzfeednews&period;com&sol;article&sol;juliareinstein&sol;r-kelly-trial-opening">Buzzfeed News <&sol;a>reported&period;  <br>Pace said Kelly told her to keep saying she was 19 and &&num;8216&semi;act 21&&num;8217&semi; and that he &&num;8216&semi;was going to train me on how to please him sexually&period;&&num;8217&semi; When she told him she was a virgin&comma; she said Kelly responded &&num;8216&semi;that&&num;8217&semi;s good&&num;8217&semi; and told her to lie about her age to other people&period;  <br>Pace said she continued to see and have sex with Kelly over the next several months and that Kelly would often film their encounters&period; <br>He also allegedly made Pace follow a strict set of rules&comma; including making her wear baggy clothes&comma; having her call him &&num;8216&semi;Daddy&comma;&&num;8217&semi; and forbidding her from eating food or using the bathroom without his permission&comma; Buzzfeed reported&period; <br>Pace said she was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement&comma; and a letter full of false admissions that claimed she had stolen money and jewelry from him&comma; which prosecutors allege was a form of blackmail by Kelly&period; <br>Pace said she normally abided by Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s rules&comma; but when she didn&&num;8217&semi;t he would be punished&period;   <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Robert-R&period;-Kelly-left-and-Jerhonda-Pace-right-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387567"&sol;><figcaption><strong>In 2010 R&period; Kelly &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; allegedly lured a 16-year-old fan&comma; Jerhonda Pace &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; to his mansion and told her he was happy she was a virgin because he wanted to &&num;8216&semi;train her&&num;8217&semi; sexually&comma; jurors heard on the first day of the disgraced R&amp&semi;B star&&num;8217&semi;s federal trial&period; Pace took the stand in Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s Federal District Court Wednesday to testify against her alleged abuser<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She testified about an incident when she said she preferred the Cleveland Cavaliers to Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s favorite team&comma; the Chicago Bulls and he allegedly backhanded her across the face and told her she was being disrespectful&period; <br>In another instance&comma; Pace said Kelly wanted her to use a sex toy on him while they had sex&comma; and she hesitated&comma; telling him she was &&num;8216&semi;taught that was gay&comma;&&num;8217&semi; and he slapped her in the face&comma; telling her &&num;8216&semi;I&&num;8217&semi;m not f&ast;&ast;king gay&comma;&&num;8217&semi; before making her give him oral sex while using the sex toy on him&period; <br>On the final day she spent in Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s house in 2010&comma; Pace said she was distracted and didn&&num;8217&semi;t immediately acknowledge Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s presence when he entered and Kelly slapped her and choked her out until she passed out&period; &&num;8216&semi; <br>After that he spat in her face and told her to put her head down in shame before making her perform oral sex on him&period; <br>Pace said Kelly ejaculated on her face and she wiped Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s spit and semen on a blue T-shirt that was presented in court Wednesday as evidence&period;  <br>Pace said after that incident she made up an excuse to leave the mansion and never returned&period;  <br>Prosecutors described the 54-year-old as a &&num;8216&semi;predator&&num;8217&semi; who used his fame to lure in children and young women as part of a criminal enterprise where he sexually exploited his victims and trafficked them across state lines&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Jerhonda-Pace-testifies-against-R-Kelly-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387570"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Jerhonda Pace told the court that the last time she saw Kelly&comma; he ejaculated on her face and she wiped Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s spit and semen on a blue T-shirt that was presented in court Wednesday as evidence <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>However&comma; Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s attorney instead claimed that Kelly was the victim of &&num;8216&semi;fans&&num;8217&semi; who wanted the &&num;8216&semi;notoriety of being with a superstar&&num;8217&semi; and had enjoyed &&num;8216&semi;beautiful&&num;8217&semi;&comma; consensual relationships with him and were now turning on him&period;  <br>His defense sought to discredit the accusers telling jurors they will be faced with &&num;8216&semi;a mess of lies&&num;8217&semi; and that &&num;8216&semi;their testimony will crumble&&num;8217&semi; when they take the stand&period;   <br>This came after Judge Ann Donnelly threw out the defense&&num;8217&semi;s final last-ditch attempt to dismiss the case but allowed them to bring a printer into the courtroom to help them manage the 3&comma;500 pieces of evidence expected to be presented at the trial&period;  <br>Kelly is standing trial accused of being the ringleader of an underage sex ring spanning two decades where women allegedly had to call him &&num;8216&semi;Daddy&&num;8217&semi; and had to ask his permission to use the bathroom&period; <br>He is charged with racketeering&comma; sexual exploitation of a child&comma; kidnapping&comma; bribery&comma; sex trafficking and forced labor between 1994 and 2018 relating to six alleged victims&period;    <br>Six women and girls are cited in the nine-count indictment &&num;8211&semi; with at least three of them underage and all aged between 15 and 22 at the time of the alleged crimes&period;  <br>At least two of the alleged victims have accused Kelly of having unprotected sex with them without revealing he had herpes&period;  <br>He is also accused of bribing an Illinois official in 1994 to obtain fake ID for the singer Aaliyah so they could marry when she was just 15 and he was 27&period; <br>Kelly denies all the charges but faces up to life in prison if convicted on all counts&period; <br>In opening statements&comma; the prosecution described an alleged pattern of violent abuse&period; <br>Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez told the jury Kelly used &&num;8216&semi;every trick in the predator handbook&&num;8217&semi; to groom his victims&comma; blackmailed them with sex tapes and violently beat them if they failed to comply with his demands&period;  <br>The trial is not about celebrity parties but is &&num;8216&semi;about a predator&&num;8217&semi; who used his fame to entice girls&comma; boys and young women before dominating and controlling them physically&comma; sexually and psychologically&comma; she said&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;This case is about a predator&period;&&num;8217&semi;  <br>Melendez said Kelly had his &&num;8216&semi;pick of young fans&&num;8217&semi; who he &&num;8216&semi;dominated and controlled&&num;8217&semi; and treated like &&num;8216&semi;objects&period;&&num;8217&semi;  <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Robert-R&period;-Kelly-heads-to-court-Aug-18-2021&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387577"&sol;><figcaption><strong>A man was seen bringing a new suit for R Kelly to the courthouse in Brooklyn on Wed&period; Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s team had complained he got fatter in jail and required new clothing<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The prosecutor said Kelly lured in children and women by inviting them to join him after shows with backstage passes&period; Once he had them alone&comma; Melendez said&comma; Kelly &&num;8216&semi;dominated and controlled them physically&comma; sexually and psychologically&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>The singer also often recorded his sex acts with minors as he controlled a racketeering enterprise of individuals who were loyal and devoted to him&comma; eager to &&num;8216&semi;fulfill each and everyone one of the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s wishes and demands&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&period;   <br>Kelly then used these recordings as &&num;8216&semi;collateral&&num;8217&semi; and as a way to blackmail his victims by threatening to release the tapes&comma; she told jurors&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;He made them create embarrassing videos and false letters&period; He kept it in his back pocket in case anyone tried to accuse him of anything&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&period; <br>Any of his victims who didn&&num;8217&semi;t meet his demands was subjected to &&num;8216&semi;exacted cruel and demeaning punishments&&num;8217&semi; such as &&num;8216&semi;violent spankings and beatings&comma;&&num;8217&semi; the prosecutor said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class&equals;"wp-block-embed&lowbar;&lowbar;wrapper">&NewLine;<iframe title&equals;"VideoPress Video Player" aria-label&equals;'VideoPress Video Player' width&equals;'620' height&equals;'348' src&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;videopress&period;com&sol;embed&sol;uIRYq1bQ&quest;preloadContent&equals;metadata&amp&semi;hd&equals;0&amp&semi;cover&equals;1' frameborder&equals;'0' allowfullscreen allow&equals;'clipboard-write'><&sol;iframe><script src&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;v0&period;wordpress&period;com&sol;js&sol;next&sol;videopress-iframe&period;js&quest;m&equals;1674852142'><&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div><figcaption><strong>Attorneys in the R Kelly trial address media before court on Wednesday<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>R&period; Kelly is standing trial in Brooklyn federal court accused of being the ringleader of a sex ring involving women and underage girls and boys&period;    <br>The charges were first brought in a five-count superseding indictment in Brooklyn federal court in July 2019&period;  In March 2020&comma; he was slapped with additional charges upgrading the case to a nine-count indictment&period; <br>The charges relate to allegations involving six alleged victims &&num;8211&semi; five women named as Jane Does in the indictment and the singer Aaliyah&period; <br>These charges are&colon; The racketeering charge includes 14 underlying acts including&colon; one act of bribery&comma; three acts of sexual exploitation of a child&comma; one act of kidnapping&comma; three acts of forced labor and six acts of violating the Mann Act&period;<br>Racketeering charges are used where there is an &&num;8216&semi;enterprise&&num;8217&semi;&comma; mob or mafia running organized crime operations&period; <br>In this case&comma; Kelly is accused of running a racketeering &&num;8216&semi;enterprise&&num;8217&semi; for two decades made up of his &&num;8216&semi;inner circle&&num;8217&semi; of managers&comma; bodyguards and other employees who would help him recruit women&comma; girls and boys for him to sexually exploit and traffic them around the US&period; <br>To convict Kelly on the racketeering charge&comma; he must be found guilty of at least two of the 14 acts&period;<br>Kelly is facing eight counts of violations of the MANN Act&period;<br>The Mann Act is a federal law that makes it illegal to traffic people across state lines for prostitution or illegal sexual activity&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Family-members-of-Jocelyn-Savage-left-speak-to-reporters-outside-Brooklyn-Federal-court-before-the-start-of-opening-statements&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387592"&sol;><figcaption><strong>&&num;8216&semi;Now finally&comma; after almost two decades&comma; people are finally speaking up and I&&num;8217&semi;m humbly grateful for that&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said the mother of Joycelyn Savage&comma; one of the alleged victims&period; Jonjelyn Savage &lbrack;left&rsqb; is hoping that the revelations about her daughter&&num;8217&semi;s abuser would help bring &&num;8216&semi;some relief for us and some type of closure&period;&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Four of these charges relate to an incident involving Jane Doe &num;5 in 2015 while the other four involve Jane Doe &num;6 in separate incidents in May 2017 and February 2018&period; <br>Three of these charges involve Kelly allegedly exposing the two women to herpes without informing them&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;What his success and popularity brought him was access&comma; access to girls&comma; boys and young women&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&period;  <br>The prosecution said four of the five surviving accusers in the indictment &&num;8211&semi; who will be identified in the courtroom as Stephanie&comma; Sonja&comma; Jerhonda&comma; Zel and Faith &&num;8211&semi; will testify at the trial&period;  <br>Melendez explained the evidence that would be presented at the federal trial&comma; telling jurors they would hear from one woman named Sonja who will testify that Kelly locked her in a room for three days and sexually abused her while she was unconscious&period; <br>The alleged incident took place at Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s Chicago studio when the 22-year-old went to interview the R&amp&semi;B star for a radio station where she worked&period;  <br>Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s attorney Nicole Blank Becker instead painted the singer as the victim as she delivered the defense&&num;8217&semi;s opening statement after Melendez completed hers&period; <br>Becker claimed Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s alleged victims were &&num;8216&semi;fans&&num;8217&semi; who &&num;8216&semi;came to&&num;8217&semi; the star willingly because they enjoyed the &&num;8216&semi;notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>&&num;8216&semi;He didn&&num;8217&semi;t recruit them&period; They were fans&period; They came to Mr&period; Kelly&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she said&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;They knew exactly what they were getting into&period; It was no secret Mr&period; Kelly had multiple girlfriends&period;<br>He was quite transparent&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>It would be a stretch to believe he orchestrated an elaborate criminal enterprise&comma; like a mob boss&comma; the lawyer said&period; Instead&comma; she insisted the relationships were consensual&period;  <br>&&num;8216&semi;They&&num;8217&semi;re going to tell you Mr&period; Kelly is this monster&period; You&&num;8217&semi;re also going to hear that some of these relationships were beautiful&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said Becker&period;  <br>Becker accused the alleged victims of lying&comma; warning jurors they&&num;8217&semi;ll have to sort through &&num;8216&semi;a mess of lies&&num;8217&semi; from women with an agenda&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;We believe their testimony will crumble&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Becker told jurors&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;There will be so many untruths told to you&comma; ladies and gentlemen&comma; that even the government won&&num;8217&semi;t be able to untangle the mess of lies&period;&&num;8217&semi;  &&num;8216&semi;Don&&num;8217&semi;t assume everybody&&num;8217&semi;s telling the truth&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she added&period;  <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Gloria-Allred-left-and-R&period;-Kellys-lawyers-arrive-in-Brooklyn-High-Court-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"This image has an empty alt attribute&semi; its file name is Gloria-Allred-left-and-R&period;-Kellys-lawyers-arrive-in-Brooklyn-High-Court-1&period;jpg"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Gloria Allred who represents some of the victims&comma; arrives at the trial of R Kelly at Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s federal court in New York Tuesday &lbrack;left&rsqb;&period; Lawyers for R&period; Kelly led by Nicole Bank Becker &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; are seen arriving for the opening day of the star&&num;8217&semi;s sex abuse trial &lbrack;right&rsqb;<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>An anonymous jury of seven men and five women were sworn in last week for the trial&comma; which is expected to last around a month&period;  <br>Prosecutors in Brooklyn have lined up multiple female accusers &&num;8211&semi; mostly referred to in court as &&num;8216&semi;Jane Does&&num;8217&semi; &&num;8211&semi; and cooperating former associates who have never spoken publicly before about their experiences with Kelly&period; <br>They&&num;8217&semi;re expected to offer testimony about how Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s managers&comma; bodyguards and other employees helped him recruit women and girls &&num;8211&semi; and sometimes boys &&num;8211&semi; for sexual exploitation&period; Prosecutors claimed in documents ahead of the trial that R&period; Kelly sexually abused an underage boy he met in McDonalds after promising to help his music career <br>One alleged victim named &&num;8216&semi;Sonja&&num;8217&semi; is expected to testify that the singer locked her in a room for three days and sexually abused her while she was unconscious&period; <br>Pre-trial&comma; the Judge threw out defense final bid to dismiss the case after they argued herpes is not life-threatening so he shouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be charged with passing it to a minor &&num;8211&semi; Before the opening arguments got underway Wednesday&comma; the judge denied the defense&&num;8217&semi;s final bid to dismiss the case&comma; where they had argued herpes is not life-threatening so Kelly shouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be charged with passing it to a minor&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;07&sol;Robert-R-Kelly-2&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-322744" width&equals;"805" height&equals;"649"&sol;><figcaption><strong>The current trial comes more than a decade after Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child pornography case in Chicago&period;  It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the &num;MeToo era caught up with him&comma; emboldening alleged victims to come forward <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The mother of one of Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s alleged victims told reporters outside the courthouse that she was &&num;8216&semi;grateful&&num;8217&semi; that he was finally facing trial after &&num;8216&semi;almost two decades&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>&&num;8216&semi;Now finally&comma; after almost two decades&comma; people are finally speaking up and I&&num;8217&semi;m humbly grateful for that&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said Jonjelyn Savage&comma; mother of Joycelyn Savage&period; She added that she hoped that hearing the opening statements about her daughter&&num;8217&semi;s alleged abuser would help bring &&num;8216&semi;some relief for us and some type of closure&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Jocelyn was a live-in girlfriend of Kelly when he was arrested in 2019&period; <br>She previously denied being a victim of the singer and defended him in an interview with Gayle King&period;  <br>However&comma; Savage&&num;8217&semi;s family have accused Kelly and his team of holding her against her will and have pleaded for them to release her&period;  <br>They say the group selected victims at concerts and other venues and arranged for them to travel to see Kelly in the New York City area and elsewhere&comma; in violation of the Mann Act&comma; the 1910 law that made it illegal to &&num;8216&semi;transport any woman or girl&&num;8217&semi; across state lines &&num;8216&semi;for any immoral purpose&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>When the women and girls arrived at their lodgings&comma; a member of Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s entourage would set down rules about not speaking to each other&comma; how they should dress and how they needed permission from Kelly before eating or going to the bathroom&comma; prosecutors say&period; <br>Also&comma; they were allegedly required to call him &&num;8216&semi;Daddy&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Defense lawyers have countered by saying Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s alleged victims were groupies who turned up at his shows and made it known they &&num;8216&semi;were dying to be with him&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>The women only started accusing him of abuse years later when public sentiment shifted against him&comma; they said&period;   The high-profile trial has been years in the making as the star has faced accusations of sex abuse for years&period; <br>He was arrested on the federal charges filed in New York in 2019 and has been behind bars for almost two years awaiting trial&period;   <br>The trial comes more than a decade after Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child pornography case in Chicago&period;  <br>It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the &num;MeToo era caught up with him&comma; emboldening alleged victims to come forward&period; <br>The women&&num;8217&semi;s stories got wide exposure in the Lifetime documentary &&num;8216&semi;Surviving R&period; Kelly&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>The series explored how an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades&comma; foreshadowing a federal racketeering conspiracy case that landed Kelly in jail in 2019&period; <br>Two of the women at the center of the trial spoke out in the series with their accusations&period;  <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;03&sol;R&period;-Kelly-in-court-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-309671" width&equals;"838" height&equals;"1176"&sol;><figcaption><strong> Prosecutors said Wednesday the singer is a &&num;8216&semi;predator&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;strong>&colon; <strong>Kelly has been accused of having unprotected sex with one of his victims when she was underage and when he knew he had herpes but did not tell her&period; The accuser allegedly&comma; contracted the STD from him in 2015   <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Kelly allegedly had unprotected sex with one of his alleged victims when she was underage and when he knew he had herpes but did not tell her&period; <br>In May 2018&comma; just as streaming platforms Spotify&comma; Apple and Pandora cut R&period; Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s music from their playlists&comma; citing policy violations on hate content and hateful conduct&comma; one of the alleged victims&comma; then 20&comma; filed a lawsuit accusing R&period; Kelly of sexual battery&comma; mental and verbal abuse&comma; and knowingly inflicting her with herpes during a yearlong relationship&period;<br>The accuser contracted the sexually transmitted disease from him in 2015&comma; prosecutors claim&period; <br>Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s legal team filed a memo Monday night replying to the federal government&&num;8217&semi;s opposition to their request that the charges be dropped&period;<br>In the memo&comma; they specifically argued the herpes exposure charge should be dropped because herpes is a virus and not &&num;8216&semi;an acute&comma; bacterial venereal disease such as syphilis or gonorrhea&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>They argued that if case law indicates that HIV transmission is no longer criminally liable because it &&num;8216&semi;no longer poses a grave risk of death&&num;8217&semi;&comma; then herpes should also not be criminally liable&period; <br>The defense also said the New York State Department of Health &&num;8216&semi;is not aware of any instance of an individual being charged with a misdemeanor&&num;8217&semi; for spreading herpes&period; <br>Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s defense also argued that racketeering charges should be dismissed because they said they fell outside the five-year statute of limitations&period;  <br>The judge denied the request to dismiss the case early Wednesday&period;<br>She also ruled on other motions&comma; including granting prosecutors permission to include evidence they claim shows sexual abuse by the star back in 1991 and which relates to the charges over his marriage to Aaliyah&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;Nicole-Blank-Becker-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-387602" width&equals;"835" height&equals;"557"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s defense attorney Nicole Blank Becker exits Brooklyn federal court after the first day of Kelly&&num;8217&semi;s trial in New York&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>R&period; Kelly sexually abused an underage boy he met in McDonalds after promising to help his career&comma; prosecutors alleged in documents released ahead of his trial&period;  Prosecutors claim the singer&comma; now 54&comma; met a 17-year-old boy in a Chicago fast food joint in December 2006 and invited him to a party&period;  <br>When the teen &&num;8211&semi; identified only as John Doe &num;1 &&num;8211&semi; brought his parents to the party&comma; Kelly told him to come alone next time and invited him to his music studio on the promise of helping him with his music career&comma; prosecutors allege&period; <br>The singer allegedly asked the boy &&num;8216&semi;what he was willing to do to succeed in the music business&&num;8217&semi;&comma; propositioned him and sexually abused him while he was under the age of consent&period;    <br>The boy also introduced Kelly to a male friend who was also 16 or 17 at the time&comma; prosecutors allege&period;  <br>Kelly allegedly went on to have a sexual relationship with this second boy years later&period;  <br><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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