R. Kelly on trial (again)

In R. Kelly’s latest criminal trial, a woman has testified the disgraced R&B singer sexually abused her “hundreds” of times when she was under 18. 

The 37-year-old woman, using the pseudonym Jane, told jurors that it was her on an infamous tape that allegedly shows Kelly sexually abusing an underage girl, and she said she was 14 at the time, the Associated Press reports. Kelly’s 2008 trial on child pornography charges, which ended in his acquittal, centered around that tape. 

Kelly is now accused of conspiring to obstruct justice by rigging that trial, and the woman reportedly told jurors she previously lied to a grand jury by saying it wasn’t her in the video. But she says she was assured that “if I correct my mistakes by telling the truth, I won’t be prosecuted,” CNN reports. The woman did not testify in Kelly’s 2008 trial, which likely prevented a guilty verdict.

Jane testified that Kelly was seen giving her money in the video because “he wanted it to appear as if I was a prostitute” if the tape leaked, per the AP. She also testified she was sexually abused by Kelly “hundreds” of times before turning 18 and that they first had intercourse when she was 15. 

Kelly is also charged with enticing minors and producing and receiving child pornography, and prosecutors say he sexually abused four other victims when they were underage. He has pleaded not guilty. Kelly was already convicted on all counts in previous sex trafficking trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison.