Jurors are expected to hear further testimony Tuesday from a childhood friend of a woman who said R. Kelly sexually assaulted her when she was underage.
Federal prosecutors called Kelly Adams to the stand late Monday to corroborate the claims of her friend Tracy, who testified Monday using only her first name.
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Tracy told jurors in extensive detail about Kelly’s sexual abuse and assault of her when she was 16. Another Kelly accuser also testified Monday under the pseudonym “Pauline,” saying she had sexual contact with the disgraced singer dozens if not hundreds of times when she was underage.
Both women came under intense cross-examination from Kelly’s lead defense attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, who asserted that both women had actually reached 17 — Illinois’ age of consent — when they began their sexual relationships with Kelly.
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Kelly’s trial now in its third week at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, which has so far featured 23 witnesses. Prosecutors have indicated they may rest their case in chief by Wednesday.
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Kelly, 55, is charged with 13 counts of production of child pornography, conspiracy to produce child pornography and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Also on trial are former Kelly associates Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown, who, according to the indictment, schemed to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
Before the prosecution rests, jurors are expected to hear from two more women who say Kelly sexually abused them when they were underage. The trial’s first week focused on “Jane,” who identified herself as the girl being sexually abused by the then-superstar in three separate videos from the 1990s.
One of those videos became the subject of Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial, during which he was acquitted of child pornography charges because, prosecutors now allege, Kelly and his associates went to great lengths to keep “Jane” quiet and recover other incriminating footage.
Witnesses last week largely focused on those efforts. Three people testified that Kelly’s team paid them to bring him videos of his homemade child pornography while he was awaiting his Cook County trial. Defense attorneys, during lengthy cross-examinations, have challenged their stories as inconsistent and tried to paint them as unreliable extortionists.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
