Here is a sampling of their testimonies under oath. What are the witnesses saying?ĭuring the first two weeks of Kelly’s trial, the prosecution presented a number of witnesses who detailed disturbing accounts of manipulation, bribery, ephebophilia and assault, both physical and sexual. The prosecution is expected to rest its case during the week of Sept. The defense has yet to present its witnesses in the trial, which commenced Aug. Kelly has been in jail since his 2019 indictment. In July, the court date was pushed further, from early to late August, in order to give Kelly’s brand-new legal team - hired less than a month prior - more time to prepare its defense.
#R KELLY NUMBER ONE KEY TRIAL#
Though Kelly was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019, the New York phase of the trial was delayed nearly two years, primarily because of the coronavirus pandemic. The defense has painted Kelly’s alleged victims as devoted fans who were “dying to be with him” and only accused him of abuse after the #MeToo movement shifted the paradigm surrounding sexual misconduct. Kelly’s attorneys have denied the charges and presented their client as an innocent target of the #MeToo movement. Kelly begins with opening statements in New York. Kelly sex abuse trial begins with opening statements Kelly has repeatedly denied their claims.
Since Hawkins sounded the alarm, a growing number of women have gone public with their own allegations of sexual assault against Kelly, with new accounts and evidence surfacing steadily for more than 20 years.
And it continued to happen, again and again and again.” “I was the first girl ,” Hawkins says in Part 2 of the docuseries. Kelly,” maintains she was 15 when Kelly began assaulting her.
#R KELLY NUMBER ONE KEY SERIES#
Kelly Part II: The Reckoning,” the sequel to Lifetime’s documentary series “Surviving R. Hawkins, who once sang backup vocals for Haughton and played a key role in “Surviving R. In the late 1990s, Tiffany Hawkins became the first to publicly accuse Kelly of sexual assault in a lawsuit that was settled out of court. Kelly sexually abused her when she was 17 and married the late Aaliyah to sign off on her abortion. Kelly married Aaliyah at 15 so she could get an abortion, witness testifiesĪ woman testified Monday that singer R. 18, Kelly had already developed a dark reputation for allegedly sexually assaulting and exploiting young women and girls, most notably his beloved musical protégé - and former child bride - Aaliyah Haughton, who died in a 2001 plane crash at age 22. Long before his sex-trafficking trial began Aug. He has also been charged in Illinois and Minnesota, with additional trials to follow. Kelly was considered a titan of his genre - dominating the charts and raking in record sales while churning out back-to-back hits such as “Bump N’ Grind,” “Gotham City” and “Your Body’s Callin’.”īy the time he collected his first three Grammy Awards in 1998 for “I Believe I Can Fly,” his inspirational contribution to the blockbuster “Space Jam” soundtrack, the so-called Pied Piper of R&B had amassed millions of dollars and a fiercely loyal fan base.īut the allegations of sexual impropriety and abuse that have dogged him for 25 years have finally caught up with him: The 54-year-old recording artist is on trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., accused in federal court of serially abusing women and girls across nearly two decades.