Day 12 of R. Kelly’s federal sex trafficking trial featured testimony from a woman who said the R&B singer paid $200,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused him of giving her herpes without telling her that he had it.
According to USA Today, the woman told the jury Friday that she met Kelly through a mutual friend in 2001 when she was 27. She testified that she told him she was worried about STDs when they began having sex, and that Kelly “just said ‘no’” when she asked him to use protection.
This was the second time this week that a woman who testified against the “Step in the Name of Love” singer in court accused him of exposing them to herpes. Other women have made similar claims since the trial began on Aug. 18.
As USA Today reports, Kelly hasn’t been charged for any crimes regarding these allegations. Federal prosecutors hope that the testimonies of these women will help support their case against him.
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In a pretrial memorandum, prosecutors said some of the six complaining witnesses against Kelly and some of the uncharged-crimes witnesses told Kelly he exposed them to an incurable sexually transmitted disease, and thus he knew he could transmit it to others. Prosecutors must prove that knowledge in order to establish the mulitple racketeering counts Kelly is facing in the trial.
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Kelly’s trial in New York will be on break until Thursday, USA Today reports, and the prosecution is expected to rest its case on Sept. 13. The 54-year-old also faces federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in Chicago and state-level sex crime charges in Illinois and Minnesota.
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual violence, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24 hours at RAINN.org or 1-800-656-4673.
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