Fallen R&B star R. Kelly, who was already sentenced to 30 years in prison in June for sex crimes, is appearing again this week on similar charges in court in his hometown of Chicago, where jury selection began Monday.
Robert Sylvester Kelly, 55, was found guilty in New York of having piloted a “system” for the sexual exploitation of young people, including adolescents, for several decades, and sentenced at the end of June to 30 years behind bars.
He is charged in a Chicago court with obstruction of justice, production of child pornography and illicit sexual activity with a minor.
He and two former associates are accused of disrupting the course of his 2008 child pornography trial, in which the jury found him not guilty, by threatening and bribing a victim, who later did not testify but should speak this time.
The other two defendants are his former manager Derrel McDavid and former employee Milton “June” Brown. The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
Processed in two other states
His attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, asked that anyone who has seen the documentary series Surviving R. Kellywho gives the floor to several of his victims, is excluded from the jury, but Judge Harry Leinenweber rejected this request.
R. Kelly’s conviction in New York, the first in a trial in which the majority of the civil parties were black women, was seen as a turning point in the #MeToo movement.
The debates had exposed R. Kelly’s “system” for enticing very young women and raping them, with the complicity of those around him. Many victims had told of meeting him with his idol during concerts, after which they were slipped a small piece of paper with the singer’s contact information.
He is also being prosecuted in two other states.
Source: BFM TV
