All round
R. Kelly abused Aaliyah when she was 13
During R. Kelly’s trial on the 15th day, a former backing dancer, Angela, testified that the singer sexually abused Aaliyah when she was 13 or 14 years old.
Angela stated that she saw Kelly perform a sex act on Aaliyah in a tour bus a year before he illegally married the singer when she was 15.
The accused denies all charges against him, including a single count of racketeering, which portrays him as the head of a criminal enterprise with the purpose of “preying upon young women and teenagers” for sexual purposes.
Kelly has also been charged with eight counts of violating an interstate anti-sex trafficking law.
While Kelly is not charged with rape or assault, prosecutors can present evidence of potential crimes related to the racketeering charge, regardless of when they occurred.
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Angela’s testimony is the 10th to be heard in court and is similar to previous accounts of under-age sexual abuse.
Angela revealed that she started having sex with Kelly in 1991 when she was still at school, and he invited her to a bedroom and “asked me to climb on top of him”. They had intercourse.
After being invited to join his touring entourage, Angela witnessed Kelly engage in sexual acts and punish those who refused his advances.
She told the court that the incident with Aaliyah occurred in 1992 or 1993, and she pushed open the door to Kelly’s bedroom, where she saw Kelly and Aaliyah in a sexual situation.
The former dancer never mentioned the incident to Kelly again.
Earlier witnesses testified that they falsified documents so that Kelly and Aaliyah could be married when she was underage. Angela is the first person to testify that she saw the pair engage in sexual acts.
Her testimony makes Aaliyah the youngest woman Kelly is accused of abusing. A second male accuser testified against Kelly under the pseudonym Alex.
Alex said that Kelly recorded him having “countless” sexual encounters with women that he often participated in. Although they first met when he was 16, Kelly first pressured him into sex when he was 20.
Kelly’s former assistant, Diana Copeland, also testified that she did not witness any of the abusive behaviour alleged by other witnesses.
However, she painted a picture of Kelly’s controlling behaviour that echoed earlier testimonies.
