R Kelly accused of sexually abusing teenage boy after asking him what he was willing to do for music, court told
Kelly is accused of preying on victims during his 30-year career but his lawyers portray his accusers as groupies who are lying about their relationships with him.
Wednesday 1 September 2021 07:53, UK
A man has told a court that he was just 17 years old when R Kelly promised him fame in exchange for sex.
Warning: This article contains graphic content
Kelly, famous for the 1996 hit I Believe I Can Fly, denies allegations that he abused several accusers during a decades-long racketeering scheme.
As his trial entered its eighth day, his male accuser - who testified under a pseudonym Louis - said the star had asked him "what I was willing to do for music".
Louis told the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, that he had replied: "I'll carry your bags...anything you need I'll be willing to do."
According to the testimony, Kelly had replied: "That's not it, that's not it", before asking him if he ever fantasised about having sex with men.
He said that Kelly had "crawled down on his knees and proceeded to give me oral sex", adding: "I wasn't into it."
Earlier, the man told the court that Kelly had lured him to his Chicago-area home on that day in 2007 with a false offer to help him with his music career.
He also said that, on another occasion, Kelly had snapped his fingers to summon a naked girl to perform a sex act on himself and Louis.
But Louis continued to see the R&B star because "I really wanted to make it in the music industry".
Louis was testifying as part of an agreement with prosecutors regarding his guilty plea in another case alleging he was part of a plan to bribe a woman not to testify against Kelly.
Kelly, 54, has not been charged in relation to that.
The court has also heard women claim they were groomed and sexually abused by Kelly, including one who said she was sexually assaulted at the age of 17 after a performance in Miami in 1994.
She said the singer had taken her and a friend to his dressing room after the show and forced her to have unprotected sex.
She said she had been "in complete shock", adding: "I basically went blank."
Kelly's lawyers have portrayed his accusers as fans who are lying, and defence lawyer Deveraux Cannick asked the female witness why she had waited more than two decades to tell police about the alleged crime.
"Because I didn't want to feel more shame and trauma," she replied.
The trial continues.