Woman who says R. Kelly abused her as a virgin, 16, returns to testify on day two of his trial

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Jurors on R. Kelly’s trial will hear more testimony from the woman who said the R&B star lured her to his mansion when she was a 16-year-old virgin, made her call him ‘daddy’ and choked her until she passed out, on day two of his federal sex abuse trial in New York.

Jerhonda Pace, 28, is expected to take the stand in Brooklyn’s Federal District Court again Thursday to tell the court about the six months of alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Kelly.

Pace, named in court as ‘Jane Doe No. 4,’ was the first witness called by the prosecution Wednesday on the first day of Kelly’s long-awaited trial.

She is one of six women in the nine-count federal indictment which could see the biggest star in R&B spend the rest of his life behind bars.  

Kelly is accused of being the ringleader of an underage sex ring involving women, underage boys and girls going back more than two decades.

He is charged with racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, sex trafficking and forced labor between 1994 and 2018 relating to six alleged victims. 

At least three of the alleged victims were underage and all were aged between 15 and 22 at the time of the alleged crimes. 

One of the six women is late singer Aaliyah who Kelly married when she was just 15 and he was 27. Kelly is accused of bribing an Illinois official in 1994 to obtain fake ID for Aaliyah so they could wed in a scheme to ensure the silence of the underage girl who was reportedly pregnant with his child. 

Two of the other women in the indictment have also accused Kelly of giving them herpes by having unprotected sex with them and not disclosing he had the virus. 

Four of the five surviving accusers in the indictment – identified as Stephanie, Sonja, Jerhonda, Zel and Faith – will testify at the trial. 

Kelly denies all the charges but faces up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.   

Pace testified Wednesday that she first met Kelly aged just 14 when she attended every day of his 2008 child pornography trial – in which he was found not guilty due to lack of sufficient evidence.

She said she then met up with Kelly at a party two years later when she was 16 and they began a sexual relationship. 

When she told him her age and that she was a virgin, Kelly allegedly told her he was happy she was a virgin and urged her to pretend to be 21.  

Over the next six months, Kelly forced her to follow his ‘rules’, took away her cell phone, denying her food or using the bathroom without permission, and making her call him ‘daddy’, she told the court Wednesday.

Pace told jurors she last saw Kelly in 2010 when he spit on her, slapped her and choked her until she passed out. When she came around, he allegedly made her perform oral sex on him and he ejaculated on her face. 

The court heard that Pace still has the shirt with Kelly’s semen on it that she used to wipe her face following the encounter. 

Before she took the stand, the defense and prosecution gave their opening statements kicking off the trial that is expected to last around a month.  

Prosecutors described the 54-year-old as a ‘predator’ who used ‘every trick in the predator handbook’ to groom his victims, blackmailed them with sex tapes and violently beat them if they failed to comply with his demands.  

However, Kelly’s attorney instead claimed that Kelly was the victim of ‘fans’ who wanted the ‘notoriety of being with a superstar’ and sought to discredit the accusers, telling jurors they will have to wade through ‘a mess of lies’.  

Multiple accusers as well as cooperating former associates are expected to take the witness stand during the trial to testify how Kelly’s managers, bodyguards and other employees helped him recruit women and girls – and sometimes boys – for sexual exploitation.   

An anonymous jury of seven men and five women were sworn in last week for the trial, which is expected to last around a month.  

The high-profile trial has been years in the making as the star has faced accusations of sex abuse for years.

He was arrested on the federal charges filed in New York in 2019 and has been behind bars for almost two years awaiting trial.   

The trial comes more than a decade after Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child pornography case in Chicago. 

It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the #MeToo era caught up with him, emboldening alleged victims to come forward.

The women’s stories got wide exposure in the Lifetime documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly.’

The series explored how an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades, foreshadowing a federal racketeering conspiracy case that landed Kelly in jail in 2019.

Two of the women at the center of the trial spoke out in the series with their accusations.  

Kelly is perhaps best known for his smash hit ‘I Believe I Can Fly,’ a 1996 song that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings, advertisements and elsewhere. 

The trial, coming after several delays due mostly to the pandemic, will unfold under coronavirus precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds. 

If convicted, Kelly could face life in prison. 

Even if he is found not guilty, Kelly’s legal woes are far from over as he faces separate trials on sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota.    

Day one of R. Kelly’s trial: ‘Predator’ R. Kelly ‘said ‘that’s good’ when fan club member, 16, told him she was a virgin and once ‘choked her until she passed out’, first accuser tells the court     

On day one of R. Kelly’s trial: 

Accuser Jerhonda Pace told the court she was sexually abused by Kelly when she was 16 She told the court Kelly was happy she was a 16-year-old virgin because he wanted to ‘train her’ sexually He forced her to follow his ‘rules’, took away her cell phone, denying her food or using the bathroom without permission, and making her call him ‘daddy’, she told the courtPace told the court Kelly choked her unconscious in one incident in 2010 then made her perform oral sex on him; she said she still has the shirt with Kelly’s semen on it from the encounterProsecutors described Kelly as a ‘predator’ who groomed his victims, blackmailed them with sex tapes and violently beat them if they didn’t comply with his demandsThe defense claimed Kelly was the victim of ‘fans’ who wanted the ‘notoriety of being with a superstar’ and told jurors they would be faced with a ‘mess of lies’Prosecutors said one alleged victim named ‘Sonja’ will testify that the singer locked her in a room for three days and sexually abused her while she was unconscious The judge denied the defense’s final bid to dismiss the case, where they had argued herpes is not life-threatening so Kelly shouldn’t be charged with passing the STD to a minor The judge also granted prosecutors permission to include evidence they claim shows sexual abuse by the star back in 1991 and which relates to the charges over his marriage to Aaliyah Joycelyn Savage’s mother arrived at the courthouse to hear the opening statements, telling reporters she was ‘grateful’ Kelly was finally facing trial after ‘almost two decades’ 

On day one of R. Kelly’s trial, the court heard from Jerhonda Pace, one of six women in the federal indictment, who said she was sexually abused by the star when she was 16. 

Pace testified that she first met Kelly when she was just 14-years-old when she attended every day of his 2008 child pornography trial before meeting up with him again at a party two years later when she was 16 and he was 42. She said she told him initially she was 19.

Kelly then allegedly lured him to her mansion a few days later and told her to put on her swimsuit and disrobe in front of him.

When the two began kissing and he performed oral sex on her, she said she ‘felt uncomfortable’ lying about her age and told him she was actually 16 and showed him her state ID.

Kelly allegedly responded ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ and urged her to keep saying she was 19 and ‘act 21’.

Kelly was allegedly happy she was a virgin, telling her ‘that’s good’, and said he ‘was going to train me on how to please him sexually.’ 

Pace said she continued to see and have sex with Kelly over the next six months, with Kelly often filming their encounters.

During this time, Kelly allegedly made her follow a strict set of rules, including making her wear baggy clothes, having her call him ‘Daddy,’ and forbidding her from eating food or using the bathroom without his permission. 

Pace said she was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and a letter full of false admissions that claimed she had stolen money and jewelry from him, which prosecutors allege was a form of blackmail by Kelly.  

On the final day she spent in Kelly’s house in 2010, Pace said she was distracted and didn’t immediately acknowledge Kelly’s presence when he entered and Kelly slapped her and choked her out until she passed out. ‘

After that he spat in her face and told her to put her head down in shame before making her perform oral sex on him.

Pace said Kelly ejaculated on her face and she wiped Kelly’s spit and semen on a blue T-shirt that was presented in court Wednesday as evidence. 

In the prosecution’s opening statements, Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez told the jury Kelly used ‘every trick in the predator handbook’ to groom his victims, blackmailed them with sex tapes and violently beat them if they failed to comply with his demands.   

‘This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,’ she said. ‘This case is about a predator.’   

The prosecutor said Kelly lured in children and women by inviting them to join him after shows with backstage passes then ‘dominated and controlled them physically, sexually and psychologically.’ 

Kelly allegedly made his victims create sex tapes that he then used to blackmail them into silence and would punish his victims with ‘violent spankings and beatings’ if they didn’t do what he demanded of them.  

However, Kelly’s defense instead claimed he was the victim of ‘fans’ who wanted the ‘notoriety of being with a superstar’ and had enjoyed ‘beautiful’, consensual relationships with him and were now turning on him.  

Attorney Nicole Blank Becker accused the alleged victims of lying, warning jurors they’ll have to sort through ‘a mess of lies’ from women with an agenda.

‘We believe their testimony will crumble,’ Becker told jurors. 

‘There will be so many untruths told to you, ladies and gentlemen, that even the government won’t be able to untangle the mess of lies.’ 

‘Don’t assume everybody’s telling the truth,’ she added.  

Before opening statements, Judge Ann Donnelly threw out the defense’s final last-ditch attempt to dismiss the case.

Kelly’s attorneys had argued herpes is not life-threatening so Kelly shouldn’t be charged with passing it to a minor. 

They specifically argued the herpes exposure charge should be dropped because herpes is a virus and not ‘an acute, bacterial venereal disease such as syphilis or gonorrhea.’ 

They also argued that racketeering charges should be dismissed because they said they fell outside the five-year statute of limitations.  

The judge denied the request to dismiss the case early Wednesday.

She also ruled on other motions, including granting prosecutors permission to include evidence they claim shows sexual abuse by the star back in 1991 and which relates to the charges over his marriage to Aaliyah.