R. Kelly married Aaliyah at 15 so she could get an abortion, witness testifies
A witness testified Monday that disgraced singer R. Kelly illegally married late singer Aaliyah when he was 27 and she was 15 so that she could get an abortion with his legal consent.
A woman who accused Kelly of sexually abusing her when she was 17 spoke to the scorned musician’s alleged motivations for wedding Aaliyah during her testimony at Kelly’s ongoing sex-trafficking trial, the Huffington Post reported.
Kelly stands accused of sexually assaulting and impregnating Aaliyah when she was 15, around the time he married the “One in a Million” artist after procuring a fake ID for her.
Monday’s witness, now 23 and identified anonymously as Jane Doe, also accused Kelly of raping her, infecting her with herpes without warning, repeatedly striking her with a shoe and forcing her to smear feces on her face, among other alleged abuses — all when she was a minor and he was in his late 40s, according to the Associated Press.
Sex abuse trial of R&B star R. Kelly begins with opening statements in New York.
During his Black Panties tour in 2015, Kelly allegedly lured the witness to his hotel room for an “audition” when she lied about her age and told him she was 18. An aspiring singer at the time, the witness said she “genuinely wanted his input,” before Kelly allegedly told her he “needed to ejaculate” and forced himself on her.
After that, the witness said Kelly repeatedly sexually assaulted her, including when she was experiencing intense pain as a result of the herpes infection he gave her. She added that Kelly videotaped their encounters and once impelled her to cover her face in feces while on camera.
At one point, Kelly allegedly hit the witness “all over” her body with a size-12 sneaker as she attempted to run away and defend herself — to no avail, as she was 4-foot-11 and 98 pounds. After she became pregnant, Kelly allegedly forced the witness to get an abortion.
One of R. Kelly’s former employees says the singer lived in a ‘Twilight Zone’ where he called all the shots, including when visitors could leave.
Monday’s testimony came from one of six alleged victims — including beloved vocalist Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001 — involved in Kelly’s sex-trafficking trial. Last week, another witness testified that Kelly began sexually assaulting her when she was 16, according to the Associated Press.
Both the first and the second witnesses at the trial alleged that Kelly demanded they call him “Daddy” and imposed strict limitations on what they wore, whom they spoke with and when they could use the bathroom.
Prosecutors in New York are aiming to prove that Kelly and his team leveraged the artist’s power and notoriety to prey on children physically, sexually and psychologically. Kelly has denied the accusations and attempted to position himself as an innocent target of the #MeToo movement.
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