R. Kelly: Woman accuses musicians of hundreds of abuses

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Former pop star R. Kelly (photographed August 2019)

Photo: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP

Your statement is given central importance.

A woman has accused former pop superstar R. Kelly of multiple abuses when she was a minor.

The now-adult testified at Kelly's trial in Chicago Thursday (local time) that he had sex with her "hundreds" of times when she was between the ages of 15 and 18.

The US media report unanimously.

But the first sexual acts had already occurred when she was 14.

Previously, Kelly had accepted her as his godchild.

The woman is crucial to the process because she is reportedly in a world-famous video shot over 20 years ago in which Kelly allegedly sexually assaulted and urinated on her.

Kelly was acquitted in a previous trial on the 2008 case.

Now the public prosecutor's office accuses him of having put pressure on the victim at the time so that he did not testify in the process.

Upon further questioning in court, it was expected that the woman would be able to confirm that she was the girl in the video.

Charge consists of 13 counts

Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in her opening statement to the 12 jurors in Kelly's presence that the witness' testimony contradicts her past accounts: "For the past 22 years, she has adamantly denied that it was her in this video .

Before it came to criminal investigations, she denied it.

She's denied it repeatedly to prosecutors, she's denied it to social workers and police officers.

She denied it under oath before a grand jury.”

Just weeks after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for molesting a child, Kelly faces 13 counts in Chicago, including multiple counts of manufacturing child pornography, inducing a juvenile to engage in sexual activity and obstructing justice.

Two of his former employees have also been charged.

The process should take about a month.

Kelly could face another decade in prison if convicted.

jok/dpa