Man testifies R. Kelly sexually abused him as a teen
The man, identified in court as "Louis," said Kelly asked him what he was willing to do for a career in music after he met him at 17.
A male witness testified in the federal sex crime trial of disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly.
The man — who has been identified in court as “Louis” — told jurors Kelly asked him what he was willing to do for a career in music after he met him, at 17 years old, at a Chicago neighborhood McDonald’s.
Louis is the fifth accuser to testify against Kelly and his first male accuser at the federal trial in Brooklyn, New York.
According to a report from The Daily Beast, the man said he met Kelly in 2006, that the singer gave the then-teen his phone number, which the youth later gave to his mother. He and his parents went to a party at Kelly’s mansion, and the singer allegedly whispered to him, “Maybe it would be best if I come to the next party by myself.”
The man, who’s now 32, testified that he recorded a song at a studio session, saying he would often meet up with Kelly to play basketball and that the singer was frequently accompanied by young women wearing “baby clothing.”
He said that the singer performed oral sex on him for the first time at his Illinois mansion, maintaining Kelly told the teen, who “wasn’t into it,” to “keep it between me and said we are family now.”
Louis noted that Kelly frequently ordered young women to perform oral sex on him, and he said while he didn’t mind the sexual encounters, they did often make him uncomfortable.
Like several other alleged victims, the man testified that Kelly ordered him to call him “Daddy,” adding from the stand, “As our relationship got stronger, he said I was like a brother. I was his little brother.”
Despite the ongoing sexual abuse, Louis said, he maintained a relationship with Kelly until at least 2018, when the singer dictated a letter for him to write that would “protect me and him.” He testified the letter falsely claimed someone was trying to pay him to say he was in a “homosexual relationship” with the singer.
The man used an alias in court because he is still pursuing a career in the music industry. He admitted that he took a plea agreement in a federal attempted bribery case for trying to bribe the singer’s accusers and prevent them from testifying. Louis appeared in court this week as a witness for the prosecution as part of his plea agreement.
Kelly has been trending on Twitter this week as more salacious details from the trial emerge. One user wrote on the social media site: “r kelly should really be the easiest artist to cancel…his songs are literally about teenage girls ???”
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