R. Kelly Forced Girlfriends To Write Fake Letters Denying He Sexually Or Physically Abused Them, Witness Testifies
Disgraced R&B singer, R. Kelly forced his girlfriends to write fake blackmail letters that he could use to defend himself, in case he was charged with sexually or physically abusing them, one of his accusers testified on Wednesday at his New York City trial.
‘As insurance and a way to make sure these women wouldn’t talk, [Kelly] created and collected collateral. He made them create embarrassing videos and false letters,‘ Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said during her opening remarks at Kelly’s ongoing sex abuse trial in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, the Daily News reported.
She added that; “He kept it in his back pocket in case anyone tried to accuse him of anything”.
Read Also: R. Kelly Groomed Girls For Decades, Trial Hears
The witness, testifying as a “Jane Doe”, read for the jury parts of one letter in which she told the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, that if he tried to break up with her, “I’m going to tell everyone you raped me. … I’m going to say you raped me since I was a minor.”
Her notes to him also warned that “she would spank herself really hard” – hard enough to leave bruises – so she could accuse him of beating her.
After the defence confronted the witness with the letters, she insisted the abuse was real and that the writings were a ploy engineered by Kelly “to protect him in a trial like this from very serious charges”.
The woman, now 23, previously detailed how she was groomed and exploited by Kelly starting in 2015 when she was a 17-year-old aspiring singer.
Jane also previously testified that Kelly, 54, would spank her in punishments he referred to as ‘chastisings‘.
The witness, who met Kelly at a music festival in Florida when she was 17, testified that the singer’s lawyer told him to have ‘every girlfriend write a letter‘ defending him after his 2008 child pornography trial.
She said during their first meeting, Kelly pressured her into having oral sex before granting her a singing audition. Afterwards, she began regularly meeting with Kelly and having sex with him in different cities, according to her testimony.
Jane added;
The defendant would have other girlfriends make me write these letters. He said they would go to his attorneys and they’d never see the light of day.
The woman shared another letter with the court where Kelly told her to state she wanted to have sex and he only wanted to be friends.
She wrote in the letter;
If you don’t bring me back that d**k then I’m going to say you raped me. I’m going to say you raped me since I was a minor. I’ll tell everyone you hit me.
However, the defence sought to discredit her with the letters and other evidence it claims showed her parents were behind a scheme to take advantage of Kelly’s fame.
In her defence, Jane read letters where she said her parents had suggested she lie to Kelly about her age, and that they tried to benefit financially from her relationship with him.
She claimed her parents had sought jobs from the musician and asked him to invest in their business proposals, including one involving a dildo that played Kelly’s music when in use.
Jane in an undated letter to her brother said;
They decided to bring dildos to his show. Mom pulled a dildo out in front of anybody and everybody. I thought it was a ridiculous idea.
She also told her brother that her mother would ‘nag‘ her to take photos and videos of her and Kelly so she could blackmail him, and pushed her to dress provocatively for their first encounter in 2015 when she was 17.
Jane left Kelly in October 2019 after having dated the singer for over four years.
She revealed that during this period, her parents agreed to put her under the care of a woman Kelly knew so Jane could live with him in Chicago while attending high school virtually.
Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Geddes responded by asking the witness whether the blame fell “on your parents or the defendant?” Jane responded: “The defendant.”
Kelly has repeatedly denied accusations that he preyed on several alleged victims during a 30-year career highlighted by his 1996 hit I Believe I Can Fly.
He is accused of trafficking women and girls for illegal sexual activity. His lawyers have portrayed his accusers as groupies who are lying about their relationships with him.
