Woman testifies R. Kelly videotaped her as a teen during sex

NEW YORK – A woman at the center of sexual abuse allegations against R. Kelly testified Thursday that the superstar singer recorded them having intercourse when she was 16 and at least once he made particular requests about her wardrobe when they had sex.

“He wanted me to put my hair up in pigtails and dress like a Girl Scout,” Jerhonda Johnson Pace told a federal jury on Brooklyn as the second day of Kelly’s racketeering trial began.

On cross-examination, in an attempt to paint Pace as unreliable, Kelly attorney Devereaux Cannick repeatedly had her confirm that she lied about her age at least twice during her relationship with Kelly: First during Kelly’s 2008 criminal case in Cook County, when she told court officials she was 18; and then again before her first sexual encounter with Kelly in 2009 when she told him she was 19.

Pace reiterated on cross-examination Thursday that she first told Kelly her true age after he performed a sex act on her and she became uncomfortable — the same thing she told prosecutors during her direct testimony a day earlier.

“But you were not so uncomfortable with the situation that you said ‘hell no, I’m not taking off my clothes, I’m going home’?” Cannick asked.

“That’s correct,” Pace said.

Pace, now 28, said she had given media interviews about her experience, but was not paid for them. However, she made more than $25,000 from a self-published book about her experiences on Amazon, she said.

Kelly’s defense has repeatedly accused the witnesses of coming forward only because they want to cash in on their accusations.

Cross-examination is expected to continue Thursday after a brief recess.

Pace is the first witness testifying for prosecutors in Kelly’s long-awaited trial and a key player in the allegations against the R&B superstar.

On Wednesday, she testified Kelly had sex with her repeatedly over the course of six months in 2009 and 2010, when she was only 16. During their time together, his abuse and control of her escalated, she said, and he made her follow manipulative “rules” that prosecutors said are the hallmark of his criminal scheme.

Pace alleged sex, abuse and control by Kelly after she met him as a teenager at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in 2008, where she had gone to show support during the singer’s first criminal case.

The defense’s cross-examination of Pace is expected to be lengthy. In opening statements, Kelly attorney Nicole Blank Becker reserved some of her harshest criticism for Pace, saying she is a self-admitted liar and former Kelly “groupie” who only started making accusations when she thought it would be profitable.

Prosecutors allege Kelly’s abuse of Pace was part of an operation that spanned decades, leveraging Kelly’s fame to target young victims, groom them, abuse them, and manipulate or blackmail them to keep them under his control. Kelly is “a predator” who hoarded girls including Pace “like objects.”

Not everyone who watched was so impressed.

A small group of middle-aged women — Kelly’s die-hard supporters — was first in line outside the courthouse Thursday.

They began to arrive just after dawn, vowing to get some of the limited spots in the overflow room set aside for the public. The day before, they complained, most of those seats had been taken up by the family of another woman who has claimed Kelly abuse.

This time, they said they had to make it in to watch — especially to see the rest of Pace’s testimony.

“We’re going to find out she’s a liar,” said Terri Speaks, who flew in from St. Louis to watch the proceedings. “Just wait till it come out! They shamed this man.”

Speaks has loved Kelly’s music for years, she said. “Step in the Name of Love” is a staple at every family birthday party. But it was Kelly’s infamous interview with Gayle King that really made her sympathize with the singer. “I was like, ‘oh, he’s saying his truth,’” she said.

And once he was locked up on the federal charges in July 2019, she wrote him regularly, sent him study bibles and religious books. Once, he even called her from jail to thank her for her support, she said.

“He touched my soul some type of way, he really did,” she said.

“I ain’t going to say he innocent (of everything), that he never, like, slapped a girl. Who don’t?” She said. “Like he said, he isn’t perfect. But he didn’t do nothing to deserve to be in no jail.”

Speaks and her fellow fans on Thursday echoed many of the themes of the defense’s opening statement: the witnesses against him are lying, motivated by money or spite, and that if you listen carefully the truth will come out.

Kelly faces a racketeering charge more commonly used against mob bosses. If convicted he could spend decades in prison.

Also reportedly slated to testify Thursday is Demetrius Smith, Kelly’s former tour manager, who prosecutors allege paid a $500 bribe to get a fake ID for 15-year-old Aaliyah so Kelly could marry her. Kelly and the now-deceased singer allegedly married after the pair thought Aaliyah was pregnant.

The trial is expected to last up to a month or more.

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(Crepeau reported from New York and Meisner from Chicago.)

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