R. Kelly promised fame for sex, says first male accuser

NEW YORK • The racketeering trial of R&B star R. Kelly resumed on Monday with the testimony of two new accusers, including the first male accuser to take the stand against the singer.

The man, testifying under the pseudonym Louis, told jurors that when he was a 17-year-old aspiring hip-hop artiste, Kelly began making sexual advances on him, promising to help his career if he engaged in sex acts.

Until Monday, all of the accusers to testify against Kelly, 54, had been women.

Louis, like the four women to testify before him, told jurors that he had been underage during a sexual encounter with Kelly.

The singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, has denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, which include a single count of racketeering and eight counts of violating an interstate anti-sex trafficking law known as the Mann Act.

Louis said the singer had brought him to his garage and crawled up to perform a sex act on him.

"He just told me we had to keep it between me and him," he said.

As they continued to meet, Louis said Kelly began to call him a "little brother", told him to refer to him as "Daddy" and recorded their sexual encounters. He kept seeing Kelly as he had "really wanted to make it" in the industry.

Kelly, who appeared impassive through most of the trial, seemed to become agitated by Louis' testimony, wiping his head and clutching his mask.

Louis recently pleaded guilty to attempted bribery for offering money to a potential witness against Kelly if she agreed to stop cooperating with the government.

He said he did not want to testify, but had entered an agreement to do so in exchange for the United States government notifying the judge on his case of his cooperation.

"You have to be truthful according to what the government finds to be truthful?" asked Mr Deveraux Cannick, one of Kelly's lawyers, suggesting Louis's accounts had been fabricated or embellished.

A woman testifying under the name "Addie" also said on Monday that when she was 17, Kelly had invited her backstage after a performance and assaulted her. The alleged incident happened in September 1994. Just days earlier, Kelly, then 27, had married singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time.

Addie testified that she did not make a police report as she had feared being blacklisted from the industry.

"I didn't even know if they would believe me," she said. "I didn't want to be victim-shamed."

On cross-examination, Mr Cannick asked her why she had waited 24 years to report the attack.

Addie responded that she had feared further trauma or being blamed for the attack, but no longer did.

"I'm an adult now," she said through tears. "I'm no longer a little girl."

NYTIMES