R. Kelly Chicago trial begins with bold opening over sex tapes "with young children"
Chicago, Illinois - At the start of a new trial against R. Kelly in Chicago, the prosecution made serious allegations against the disgraced pop star.
"The defendant Robert Kelly had sex with multiple children. He made videotapes of himself having sex with young children," prosecutor Jason Julien said Wednesday in his opening statement to a Chicago federal jury, as per CNN.
Julien also announced that an alleged victim of Kelly's plans to testify for the first time, saying at just 14-years-old, she was recorded in multiple child pornography tapes having sex with the singer. The jurors are expected to view the videos during the trial.
R. Kelly was found guilty in a New York trial in September of sex trafficking and racketeering and was sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. He has been serving time behind bars and last month was placed on suicide watch.
Kelly is now being federally charged in Chicago with multiple counts of producing child pornography, including that he sexually abused five minors, and obstruction of justice.
Two of his former employees are also being charged, as Julien said they "helped Kelly cover it up and keep it a secret."
R. Kelly's alleged victim is expected to change the game in court
The videos and testimony of the then 14-year-old will play a central role in the trial.
Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges in an earlier trial on the case in 2008, which involves the same victim.
Prosecutors now accuse the 55-year-old of pressuring the victim at the time so that she would not testify in the trial. Her identity has not been revealed and 14 years ago, she declined to take the stand.
Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, stressed during her opening statement to the jurors on Wednesday that the witness' upcoming testimony is at odds with her past actions.
"For the last 22 years she has adamantly denied that it was her in that video," Bonjean said. "Before there was any criminal investigation, she denied it. She denied it repeatedly to prosecutors, she denied it to social workers, to police officers. She denied it under oath to a grand jury."
The new trial is expected to last about a month, with Kelly again facing decades in prison.
Cover photo: Kamil KRZACZYNSKI/AFP