Chicago, Ireland — The alleged underage sexual assault victim of R. Kelly, known by the alias Jane and central to a federal child pornography trial in Chicago, is heard apologizing to her alleged abuser multiple times in more than one video clip that were entered into evidence by the prosecution on Friday. The graphic videotapes were shown to jurors Friday in Dirksen’s U.S. District Court, where the tape — featuring excerpts from three different videos — was not seen by the public or the media. Instead, there was a sound in the courthouse.
Kelly faces multiple charges of coercing five minors into sexual acts and multiple charges related to the production of child pornography. He and co-defendants Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown are also accused of receiving child pornography as part of an alleged effort to recover missing tapes allegedly showing Kelly performing sexual acts with minors. In addition, Kelly and McDavid face obstruction of justice charges related to allegations that they paid people who knew about Kelly’s alleged abuse and tried to obstruct a 2008 child pornography investigation into Kelly. All three men pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, Jane, who was Kelly’s godmother, identified herself as the person on the tapes released Friday and said she was 14 when they were made. On Friday, Jane’s teenage voice could be heard on the tapes referring to her “14-year-old” body, including her breasts and other genitalia, at several points, while around 17 clips from three separate videotapes were played in court. Kelly could be heard confirming her age in some of the clips.
In one clip, Jane is instructed by what appears to be Kelly to turn around and “kneel.” “Daddy, do you still love me?” he is heard asking. In another clip she is told to “don’t move” and that “I’m going to spank your ass really hard”. Elsewhere, she is heard saying “I’m sorry” to her alleged sex offender several times as the tapes were played in the courtroom.
A handful of the clips played Friday were the focus of Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial, in which the singer was acquitted (Jane did not testify at the 2008 trial, a major factor in his acquittal, jurors would later say in that trial.) While the clips were playing, Kelly would often confer with his counsel and look down at the table where he was sitting.
It was a chaotic turnout Friday at the tapes, with Kelly supporters lining up hours early to attend court as the trial unfolded, and prosecutors repeating their request that the U.S. District Judge be purged from the public. Harry Leinenweber. and media on the basis that the tapes were allegedly child pornography. Leinenweber disagreed and instead hid the video screens showing the videotapes from the view of the public and media in the gallery as jurors and legal teams were allowed to watch.
Earlier in the day, cross-examination of Jane, who testified Thursday, was opened by Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjan, who demonstrated through a series of texts allegedly sent by Jane to Kelly that the two allegedly remained in contact until April 2019. Bonjan also pointed out that her client did not always respond to Jane’s texts. In February 2019, shortly after the Surviving R. Kelly documentary aired, Jane reportedly texted Kelly, “You need to call me right now or I’m making decisions on my own.” Bonzan asked if this was a means of getting Jane paid to keep quiet, which Jane denied. “The decision I was going to make was to cooperate with the authorities because I no longer wanted to carry his lies,” she said.
Bonjean also mentioned restitution, which Jane is apparently entitled to if Kelly is convicted, but Jane said she hadn’t decided whether to pursue it. Later, Bonjean suggested that Jane’s lawyer had negotiated an immunity deal, covering her for “anything”. Jane calmly said that, regardless, “I speak my truth.”
Another set of texts Bonjean cited were those exchanged between Jane and then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull, suggesting they had an overly friendly relationship. During the redirect, prosecutors worked to prove that the text exchanges were about planning leading up to the trial.
Bonzan also asked Jane about the original tape, obtained by then-Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jim DeRogatis, which eventually led to the 2008 trial. Bonzan asked if Jane’s aunt Stephanie “Sprinkle” Edwards provided the tape . “As I understand it, yes,” said Jane. Jane later agreed with Bonjan’s claim that Edwards initially seemed to foster Kelly and Jane’s relationship when he suggested Jane ask Kelly to be her godfather when she was 12 or 13 years old. “He knew what he encouraged me to do,” Jane said.
Edwards, however, maintained that she was trying to protect her niece, as she claimed in DeRogatis’ book, Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly.
On Thursday, Jane testified that she was the girl who was sexually assaulted in the video that was at the center of Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial (he was acquitted of all charges), along with other clips. On Wednesday, after opening statements, retired Chicago detective Daniel Everett testified to that claim, saying he recognized Jane on the infamous tape — which he obtained from DeRogatis in February 2002 — from an initial investigation into allegations of abuse against Kelly. Two years ago. In 2000, Jane had denied being abused by Kelly, with her parents supporting this claim. Prosecutors alleged that Kelly and his associates paid Jane and her family to cover up the videotapes.
The four videos central to the new trial — some of which were played for jurors Friday — were shot when Jane was 14, according to testimony. He said the sexual acts took place at Kelly’s then-home, his recording studios, tour buses and hotels.
On Friday, one of Brown’s attorneys also cross-examined Jane, appearing to try to prove that their client was unaware of Kelly’s alleged cover-ups of his relationship and rather did what he was told as an employee.
Friday’s testimony also included testimony from Bettye Allwang, Director, Exploited Children at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who testified that the video involved in the case was part of a distribution report filed with the agency, and John of Customs and Border Protection Cichy, who discussed travel events involving Jane, her parents and Brown.
