A jury acquitted R. Kelly of producing child sexual abuse images 14 years ago, despite a horrific video that showed him sexually assaulting and urinating on a 14-year-old girl.
The “not guilty” verdict allowed R. Kelly to be released back into the world, where he continued to abuse dozens of girls and young women.
R. Kelly Faces Charges For Tape Of Him Sexually Abusing And Urinating On 14-Year-Old Girl
Now, less than a year after Kelly was convicted and sentenced for several sex crimes in New York, federal prosecutors in his hometown of Chicago will attempt to at last hold him accountable for allegedly recording that infamous tape after their state counterparts failed to do so.
In a new trial that started this past Monaday, the alleged victim, whose absence in the 2008 trial played a vital role in the jury’s decision to acquit Kelly, is cooperating with prosecutors.
Per recent documents filed by the defense, she is expected to testify that she was the girl in the video — and how she wasn’t telling the truth when, allegedly under pressure from Kelly, informed a Cook County grand jury it wasn’t her.
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The tape was parodied in a popular 2003 sketch on Dave Chappelle’s Comedy Central show. Bootlegged versions were even sold on the streets of Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and other cities.
And while Kelly is already facing a 30-year prison sentence for decades of sexual abuse, his second federal trial may help merge predatory behavior to his public image and expose how he was able to avoid accountability for such an extended period of time.
“The most important thing about this trial is to highlight the travesty of justice that was the 2008 Cook County State’s Attorney’s trial,” said Jim DeRogatis, the Chicago journalist who broke the story about the tape for the Chicago Sun-Times in 2002, shared with BuzzFeed News in a recent interview.
In the upcoming Chicago case, Kelly is facing 13 counts, which include charges of producing and receiving child sexual abuse images and obstructing justice.
He is also accused of recording videos of himself sexually abusing the girl in the infamous tape, as well as two other minors, and is facing charges of luring them and two more underage girls to engage in criminal sex acts with him.
Prosecutors allege that he schemed with associates to round up the illicit tapes, pay off witnesses, and persuade the girl at the center of the 2008 case and her parents to lie about the true nature of her relationship with Kelly.