An alleged victim of R. Kelly told on Thursday, reading her diary of the time, how the fallen R&B star had abused and humiliated her, during the trial in New York where the American singer is on trial for several sexual abuses .
Now 28, Jerhonda Pace was just 16, below the age of consent in the United States, when she had sex over a six-month period with the Chicago-born musician. , already winner of three Grammy Awards at the time.
Six alleged victims
In front of the jury, she cried while reading passages from her diary, where she says that the singer slapped her: “If I lie to her again, next time, it will not be a little slap”, has- she read.
She also recounted an episode where the singer strangled her during an argument until she passed out, before then having sex. According to his story, he asked her to wear scout outfits or to make braids to better satisfy his fantasies during frolics he was filming.
But one day, after another and final sexual encounter, she “got tired of it. I went home and told it all,” she explained.
During her cross-examination, one of the defense attorneys attempted to portray Jerhonda Pace as a “groupie who harassed” the singer after their relationship ended, which she denied.
The victim, one of the six in the trial, also accuses R. Kelly of having transmitted to her at the time a genital herpes without warning her that he was affected by this sexually transmitted disease. A position confirmed by the singer’s doctor, Kris McGrath, who confirmed that he had prescribed treatment for him in 2007.
A network that recruited and prepared young girls
The 54-year-old singer, known around the world for his hit “I Believe I Can Fly”, is on trial in Brooklyn federal court for extortion, sexual exploitation of a minor, kidnapping, corruption and forced labor, over a period of from 1994 to 2018.
According to the indictment, he ran a network that recruited and groomed young girls to have sex with him, locking them in their hotel rooms when he was on tour. A world star, he had been accused of sexual abuse several times but was acquitted in a 2008 trial for child pornography.
If convicted of all charges by the jury, R. Kelly faces between 10 years in prison and life imprisonment.
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