****Warning: this story contains details of alleged acts of sexual assault against a minor****
Two more accusers took the stand at R. Kelly's federal trial in Chicago on Monday, accusing the singer of sexually assaulting them when they were girls.
Now 37 and testifying under the pseudonym "Pauline," testified to sex abuse, starting when she was just 14, with the day she found Kelly and her best friend, going by "Jane" in this case, in a compromising position – Jane naked – in the singer's home. Pauline said the singer told her he was checking Jane for bruises, then said "we all have secrets," and instructed the girls to kiss and touch each other's breasts.
From there, a sexual relationship between the three of them started; detailing threesomes, oral sex, and sex tapes, testifying she first had intercourse with Kelly at 15, starting a relationship with just Kelly that year, something that led to a later falling out with Jane
Pauline admitted to lying to a Cook County grand jury in 2002, when she identified Jane in photos, but lied about the pair's sexual relationship with Kelly, and never disclosed her own one-on-one relationship with the singer.
Kelly's defense suggested again and again she was an adult at the time of their sexual relationship, while Pauline maintained she was underage; revealing, in questioning, some sexual encounters took place in Kelly's home while his wife and kids were there.
The second accuser to take the stand, a woman using the pseudonym "Tracy," was an off-the-books intern for an Epic Records executive. Tracy said she met Kelly when she was 16, testifying to specifically pushing back against advances made by the singer, but eventually agreeing to stay at a downtown hotel with a friend and meet him there.
When Kelly gave the friend money to leave and buy them breakfast, Tracy detailed her first sexual contact with Kelly. Tracy testified she told Kelly she did not want to have intercourse, more than once, but said he "forced himself" in her, saying when she told him to stop, he did. She didn't formally report the incident until 2019.
Tracy testified their sexual relationship continued until she was 18.
Grilled by Kelly's defense about her age, at the time of the relationship, and suggesting discrepancies in dates given on the record, defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean asked Tray her point-blank whether she first met Kelly in the spring of 2000 when she was 17-years-old; not in 1999 when she was 16. Tracy said no.
Tracy filed a lawsuit against Kelly in 2001 and was paid a settlement. Kelly's defense pointed out that lawsuit said Tracy was 17 when she started having sex with Kelly - the age of consent in Illinois. Despite records and a signed affidavit, Tracy denied that was true.
At least two more women are expected to take the stand to accuse Kelly of sexually assaulting them when they were girls before prosecutors rest their case.
Kelly, 55, is on trial on a 13-count indictment, including child pornography and obstruction of justice charges. Kelly's former business manager Derrel McDavid and former assistant Milton "June" Brown are being tried alongside him, accused of scheming with Kelly to buy back incriminating sex tapes to help cover up his sex crimes and rig his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County, at which Kelly was acquitted.
"Tracy" alleges sexual relationship with Kelly when she was a teen
Tracy, a 40-year-old woman who testified she met Kelly when she was an intern at Sony's Epic Records when she was 16. She said she later saw Kelly while at an expo with her boss.
Tracy testified that Kelly later gave her his number on an autograph, and then invited him to his music studio where there was sexual activity. She testified that a week later, she met him at a hotel and after getting his room key from one of his employees, she spent the night in his hotel room with her friend. The next morning, Kelly woke them up, and gave her friend money to go get breakfast.
She said afterward, she told him she didn't want to have sex, but there was a sexual encounter anyway.
In further testimony, Tracy said she maintained contact with Kelly after the incident at the hotel. She said Kelly asked her to come to his "Chicago Trax" studio.
Tracy said her sexual relationship with Kelly began at the age of 16 and continued beyond her 17th birthday. She said she had sex with Kelly more than 50 times between the ages of 17 and 18, and it sometimes involved other people.
Tracy said she was also 17 when she and Kelly had their first threesome -- in which Kelly brought out "Jane."
Tracy said her sexual relationship with Kelly ended when she was 18. When prosecutors asked her if she told her parents, she said yes.
However, Tracy said she did not tell the police about the relationship because she loved Kelly – and she said Kelly told her he loved her when she was 16 and 17.
Tracy also said Kelly gave her gifts of money and jewelry in those ages.
Tracy testified that she filed a lawsuit in August 2001 when she turned 19, and it was settled out of court for $250,000. She said she did not receive the full settlement, and did not know how much she received in total.
Tracy said in January 2019, she called a tip line, spoke to law enforcement, and did a formal taped interview. She said she started meeting with federal officers in 2019 and asked about a sex tape she thought she was in. Tracy said she was also interviewed by the Washington Post, and confirmed she was not paid for the interview.
Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, then cross-examined Tracy. Bonjean focused on Tracy's age during the relationship, and questioned Tracy about why she did not report any of the incidents to law enforcement.
Tracy said she did not tell authorities about the hotel incident because she loved Kelly and did not want to get him in trouble. Tracy added that she later told investigators about the threesome with Jane, but not the other incidents she addressed Monday, because investigators asked about it and she "wasn't going to lie to law enforcement."
Bonjean later noted that the lawsuit Tracy filed against Kelly claimed the sexual relationship began when she was 17 – the age of consent in Illinois – rather than 16. Tracy said she had called the Illinois Bar Association when she saw the "error" about her age in the lawsuit, but Bonjean said Tracy really called the Bar Association because she wasn't' getting paid.
Bonjean said Tracy's case would have been stronger if she had been 16 – and asked Tracy why her attorney would change her age to 17 in the lawsuit. Tracy said she didn't know.
Tracy also maintained that she did not read the documents in the lawsuit because they were not provided to her, and she just signed what she was told to sign.
Bonjean also claimed that Tracy never said she had a relationship with Kelly when she was 16 until talking with law enforcement in 2019. Tracy said this was not true.
Kelly's defense attorney cross-examines "Pauline"
During cross-examination, Kelly's defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean asked Pauline why she didn't come forward with her story about finding Kelly with a naked Jane until 2019. Pauline said she didn't fail to share the information, she "was a scared minor" and was afraid to say something once she became an adult.
As she has done with other witnesses, Bonjean also sought to highlight inconsistencies between Pauline's testimony and previous accounts of what happened with Kelly, noting she has previously said she had hundreds of threesomes with Kelly and Jane, but told the jury it was about 60.
"We f***ed a lot," Pauline testified, saying she's doing the best she can to be as "precise" as possible.
Bonjean also pointed to a June 2019 interview she did with federal agents, in which she didn't disclose a sexual relationship with Kelly while she was a minor. Pauline pushed back, saying she told agents more "secrets" were created.
Bonjean pressed Pauline on earlier testimony that Kelly provided her with an alcoholic drink named "Hpnotiq" when she was 14 years old, and would mix it with Hennessey for a cocktail he called, "The Incredible Hulk." When Bonjean insisted the drink did not exist until she was 18, Pauline said that he would give her other alcohol to drink before Hpnotiq came out.
"Pauline" says R. Kelly abused her dozens of times when she was a girl
Another woman who is accusing R. Kelly of sexually abusing her when she was a girl took the stand Monday. The woman, referred to only by the pseudonym "Pauline," said she was 14 years old when her best friend "Jane" introduced her to Kelly.
Pauline said she started having sex with Kelly and Jane when she was 14, and first had sex with Kelly alone when she was 15.
She estimated she had oral sex with Kelly 80 times between the ages of 14 and 16, had vaginal intercourse with him more than 80 times during the same time period, and had 60 threesomes with Kelly and Jane between the ages of 14 and 16.
Jane already has testified at trial that Kelly sexually assaulted her hundreds of times between the ages of 14 and 18, and has said the singer often videotaped them having sex. She has identified herself as the girl in three sex tapes that have been shown to the jury.
Pauline recalled one time she was at Kelly's home in Lakeview when she was 14 years old, and she walked in on Kelly and Jane in a log-cabin themed room, where Jane was naked, and Kelly was kneeling down in front of her, prompting Pauline to run out of the room.
Jane later came to find her, and told her it was okay, and she could come back in, so she did, and Kelly told her he was looking for bruises, because Jane "hurt herself." Pauline testified she told Kelly that's not how you look for bruises, and he told her that's how he checks for them, then said "we all have secrets," and implied Pauline's mother didn't need to know about what she saw.
Pauline said Kelly then told Jane to kiss "her sister," so Jane kissed Pauline and Pauline kissed Jane, and then Kelly told them to touch each other's breasts. Asked why she went along, Pauline testified "because he told me so," and said Kelly went on to touch their breasts.
In other sexual encounters, Kelly later taught Pauline how to perform oral sex on Kelly and Jane.
Pauline later testified to seeing another girl named "Brittany" at Kelly's music studio 50 to 60 times when she was between 14 and 17 years old, and had sex with Brittany and Kelly "multiple times" when she was 15 or 16.
She also recounted a time she had sex with Kelly on his tour bus when she was 15 while parked outside of the Hoops gym in Chicago, as well as a time she had sex with him on his bus outside of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California.
Asked how she felt about Kelly during that time, Pauline said, "I loved Rob. He was one of my, like, best friends."
"He loved me…we had a lot of fun," she said.
Pauline testified Kelly would provide her with alcohol, specifying a liquor called Hpnotiq, when she was as young as 14.
Eventually, Pauline said she started seeing Kelly without Jane, leading to a falling out between the former best friends, after Jane found out when she was 16.
"That's where the problems started," Pauline said.
Pauline said Kelly would videotape his threesomes with her and Jane, and keep the videos in his gym bag and other places. She said she took one of those tapes from Kelly when she was 15, because "I was just a rebel," but didn't watch it, and eventually gave it back to him. She said Kelly was "real mad" when he found out she took the tape.
In 2001, Chicago Police questioned Pauline, with her mother present, and showed her a photo of Kelly naked with Jane, as well as another photo of her on a tour bus with someone whose face was blurred out, according to Pauline. She said she identified Jane in the photos, since her mom already knew Jane, but didn't identify anyone else in the photos because she didn't want to incriminate herself.
Pauline testified she was later subpoenaed to testify before a Cook County grand jury in 2002, and that Kelly was upset and said she shouldn't be talking to them and putting him in a tricky situation. Pauline said she was 17 when she testified before the grand jury, and identified Jane in photos, but lied when she denied knowing about Jane having sex with Kelly. She also said she didn't tell prosecutors she also was having sex with Kelly, because she didn't want her mom to find out, didn't want to get involved, and didn't want to hurt Kelly.
"They didn't have pictures of me, so I didn't need to insert myself into that situation," she testified.
She said her sexual relationship with Kelly ended when she was "grown" and "out of college."
Asked why she's testifying against Kelly now, Pauline said, "because I'm in a different place in life." She said she could have told her mother earlier, but she loved Kelly and still loves him, but she's a wife and mother now, and if someone did something to her kids, "I'm killing them."
