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"Louis" (court drawing) accuses R. Kelly of abuse
Photo: JANE ROSENBERG / REUTERS
In the abuse trial against R. Kelly, a man testified against the R'n'B star for the first time.
The witness, who uses the pseudonym "Louis" in public, accused Kelly at a court hearing in New York on Monday of sexually abusing him at the age of 17.
Kelly invited him under the pretext to support him with his music.
"Louis" said they met Kelly in 2006.
The witness told the court that he was on the night shift in a fast food restaurant branch in Chicago when Kelly slipped him his phone number.
Kelly invited him to his house on the pretext that he could perform in his studio and maybe get some tips for the music industry.
Request to be silent
When he later met Kelly in his house, the singer took him to his garage.
"He asked me what I was willing to do for the music," said the witness.
He had suggested that he be able to carry the musician's bags, for example, "Louis" said, according to a report by the "Insider".
However, the singer began to talk about sex and then abused the young person.
He told him to stop, said "Louis".
After the fact, Kelly instructed him to keep what happened to himself.
"We're a family now, brothers," Kelly said.
Kelly recorded later sexual acts on video.
"Louis" said Kelly asked him to call him "Daddy."
Similar reports were made by several women accusing Kelly of sexual offenses.
"Louis" does not appear as one of the alleged victims of Kelly in the indictment, but is one of the other witnesses for the prosecution.
"Louis" negotiated a deal with the prosecutor after he himself was convicted of bribery in February 2021.
He had offered money to a possible witness against Kelly in the hope that she would "not cooperate with the federal prosecutor."
"Louis" said he was worried that the woman might be in possession of abuse recordings of him and Kelly and that they would leak to the public.
The trial of R. Kelly began in mid-August.
The singer of the world hit "I Believe I Can Fly" is accused of sexual abuse of minors, kidnapping and bribery between 1994 and 2018, among other things.
The now 54-year-old with the real name Robert Sylvester Kelly rejects all allegations and has pleaded not guilty.
A jury made up of twelve jury members, seven men and five women, decides on Kelly's fate.
bbr / AFP
