Witness Testifies R. Kelly Made Women Write Blackmail Letters To Safeguard Him Against Sex Abuse Accusations

A witness testified in court this week that R. Kelly made her and others write blackmail letters in the event that he was ever accused of sexually abusing them.

The witness, one of the several “Jane Does” in the trial, testified on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court that the disgraced singer forced many of his girlfriends to write blackmail letters, including her, the Associated Press reports.

The assertion came after Kelly’s defense confronted her with letters that she wrote, hoping to discredit her.

“I’m going to tell everyone you raped me. … I’m going to say you raped me since I was a minor,” she read from the letters in court.

She said Kelly told her to write the letters “to protect him in a trial like this from very serious charges.”

Her letter also stated that “she would spank herself really hard” so she could accuse the "Ignition" singer of physical abuse, according to Associated Press.

The “Jane Doe,” now 23, also testified that Kelly groomed and exploited her beginning when she was a 17-year-old aspiring singer. 

The defense also put forth evidence they claim prove her parents wanted to exploit Kelly’s fame and power.

The woman is part of the long list of alleged victims and accusers prosecutors say the singer abused for nearly two decades.The state alleges that Kelly led a criminal enterprise involving managers, bodyguards and other employees who recruited women and girls for his sexual desires. 

Another “Jane Doe” testified earlier this week that Kelly also groomed a boy nicknamed “Nephew” and that Kelly forced her to have sex with “Nephew” when he was an adult as a form of punishment for her.

Kelly has long denied the allegations and his defense has described his accusers as groupies who only started accusing him of abuse following the #MeToo movement.

However, Kelly has been plagued with accusations for decades about his sexual behavior. He was accused of producing child pornography in Chicago in 2002, but was acquitted of the charge in 2008.

In Brooklyn, he faces more than a dozen criminal counts of sex trafficking, racketeering, coercion, and other charges in connection with the abuse of women and girls. He is also accused of producing child pornography and destroying evidence in a separate case in Illinois. 

Last week, Kelly’s former tour manager Demetrius Smith testified that he paid a $500 bribe to a Chicago public assistance worker to create a fake ID for the now-deceased singer Aaliyah so she could marry Kelly when she was 15 and he was 27.