Singer R Kelly could spend decades in prison
The first witness in the sexual offences case against American R&B singer R Kelly told the jury yesterday that the singer knew she was underage in 2009 when they had intercourse in Chicago, where the age of consent is 17.
Now 28, Jerhonda Johnson Pace testified at a court in Brooklyn, New York, that she had initially told Kelly she was 19, but had revealed her real age on the day they had sex for the first time.
“I felt uncomfortable. I felt like it wasn’t right, that I should tell him my age. He asked me, ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ and told me to tell everyone I was 19 and to act 21,” she said.
The Storm Is Over hitmaker, 54, faces charges that he was the ringleader of a two-decade-long scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex; charges he has repeatedly denied.
If convicted on all counts, he could spend several decades in prison.
