Yahoo Movies ‘He Wanted it to Appear Like I Was a Prostitute’: 20 Years Later, Woman From R. Kelly’s Infamous Sex Tape Testifies
Chicago, IL — R. Kelly’s former goddaughter testified that she had sex with the disgraced singer for the first time when she was 15, and that they had sex “hundreds” of times, sometimes with other underage girls.
The goddaughter, now 37 and testifying at Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago Thursday Aug. 18 under the pseudonym “Jane,” said she first had sexual contact with Kelly when she was 14. Intercourse, Jane said, occurred for the first time the following year. She also claimed she had group sex with Kelly and other underage girls, including two who are also set to testify in the trial: her schoolmate Pinky (also a pseudonym), and a woman whose pseudonym is Brittany.
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Asked by prosecutors how frequently she had sex with Kelly, Jane replied, “Like, uncountable. A lot of times… Hundreds.”
As the Chicago Tribune reports, Jane met Kelly in the Nineties and began to visit his studio when she was 12 or 13. The introduction had been brokered by her aunt Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards, a protege of Kelly’s who Jane claims also had a romantic relationship with Kelly. Edwards allegedly told Jane she should ask the R&B star to be her godfather. After Kelly agreed, Jane said their relationship became sexual, starting with long phone calls that frequently became explicit.
Jane also testified on Thursday that she was the girl being sexually abused in the video that was at the center of Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial (he was acquitted on all charges), alongside other clips. On Wednesday, after opening statements, retired Chicago detective Daniel Everett testified to that claim, saying he recognized Jane in the notorious tape — which he received from former Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jim DeRogatis in February 2002 — from an initial investigation into abuse allegations against Kelly two years prior. In 2000, Jane had denied being abused by Kelly, with her parents backing up that claim. Prosecutors have alleged that Kelly and his associates paid off Jane and her family to cover up the videotapes (Jane notably did not testify in the 2008 trial, a major factor in his acquittal, jurors in that trial would later say.)
On Thursday, Jane became emotional about halfway through more than four hours on the witness stand. Her voice moved to nearly a whisper as she was asked to detail the alleged sexual abuse Kelly recorded on video at his home, which includes the infamous footage central to the 2008 trial. One clip was filmed in the living room of R. Kelly’s former home in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. As her voice grew quieter, she testified that in the video she was lying on the floor and Kelly had given her champagne. He asked her to describe her vagina as belonging to a 14-year-old, and then he urinated on her, she said.
Kelly allegedly taped a separate video at a different time, which was filmed in a wood-paneled room, which Jane referred to as the “log cabin room.” When asked to discuss the room and what occurred, she was silent for some moments before she described the room with a jacuzzi and also detailed sexual acts and being urinated on. When asked why she was handed money from Kelly at the beginning of the clip, Jane broke down. “Because if anyone saw the tape… he wanted it to appear like I was a prostitute,” she said through tears.
The four videos central to the new trial — some are expected to be played for jurors at some point during the estimated month-long trial — were filmed when Jane was 14 years old, per testimony. She said the sexual acts took place at Kelly’s then-home, his recording studios, on tour buses, and at hotels.
On Thursday, Jane told the court that she initially denied the allegations when police first began investigating their relationship in 2000. “I was afraid,” she said, and “I wanted to protect [Kelly],” whom she said she eventually developed feelings for and loved at the time.
At first, she said, only her friends Pinky and Brittany knew about their relationship. But in 2002, her aunt informed her that one of the sex tapes depicting Jane and Kelly had leaked and would soon go public. Jane claims Kelly told her to continue to deny their relationship, and soon after, they had a meeting with her parents where she confessed to the relationship. She said Kelly pled for forgiveness from her parents and that her dad “was hysterical” over the news.
Soon after, Kelly allegedly sent Jane and her family to the Bahamas and Cancun for two weeks. “There was a lot of negative attention around the videotape,” she testified on Thursday. She added: “It was not a fun vacation. It was not considered a vacation, it was trying to understand the position we were in” and “it was really uncomfortable.”
She also claimed she was coached by Kelly to deny their relationship and the tapes before she testified during a grand jury in April 2002. Jane acknowledged she lied to grand jurors. She also acknowledged that in exchange for her testimony in the current federal trial, she was granted immunity from prosecution for her prior perjury in 2002.
Around the time Kelly was awaiting trial in 2002, Jane said she moved in to his home in Olympia Fields. She said it was there that he abused her, by spanking and hitting her. She testified that after she moved out around age 23 or 24 that he paid for her rent and a car. She testified that she noticed the word “settlement” on one check she received from Kelly, despite there not being a settlement made between them.
Thursday’s hearing also featured testimony from a man who purchased R. Kelly’s former home where some of the tapes with Jane were allegedly filmed. Matthew Hulsizer, who owned the home after Kelly, testified that in one of the house’s bedrooms, he found a camera hidden in a fake smoke detector. He also said he was forced to remove a button that needed to be pressed in order to leave the bedroom.
Kelly is facing multiple charges of coercing five minors into sex acts, and several charges related to producing child pornography. He and co-defendants Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, were also charged with receiving child pornography as part of an alleged effort to recover missing tapes that allegedly show Kelly engaged in sex acts with minors. Kelly and McDavid are also facing obstruction of justice charges tied to allegations that they paid off people who knew about Kelly’s alleged abuse, and tried to impede the 2008 child pornography investigation into Kelly. All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
On Thursday, one of McDavid’s attorneys quickly cross-examined Jane, appearing to try and establish that it was plausible that others in the Kelly camp would not be privy to their relationship, given the alleged planned secrecy surrounding Kelly and Jane’s relationship that she discussed during her testimony. On Friday, Jane will return to the witness stand for cross examination from attorneys for Kelly and Brown. Four other accusers are also expected to testify in the coming weeks.
This story was updated on Aug. 18 at 9 p.m. ET to reflect testimony later in the day following afternoon publication.
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