R. Kelly’s underage sex trial began yesterday (20.05.08).
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The R‘n’B singer is accused of videotaping himself having intercourse with an underage girl – who prosecutors claim was just 13 – in January 1998. There is also allegedly footage of Kelly having sex with the girl again, dating from November 2000.
In an opening statement, one prosecutor warned the jury it would have to watch a video showing an “underage child performing sex acts that you have never seen before.”
Kelly refutes the charges, with defence lawyers claiming he is not the man seen on camera. In their opening statement, Kelly’s lawyers questioned the origins of the videotape and also questioned the identity of the girl.
Their argument is supported by the now 23-year-old woman who denies prosecutors’ claims she is the person on the tape.
Defence lawyers also claim the person in the video could not be Kelly as he has a prominent mole on his back, while the man in the footage does not.
The singer’s trial has been repeatedly delayed since the tape first appeared in 2002, when it was posted to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
