A key accuser at the R Kelly sex-trafficking trial returned to the witness stand on Thursday, saying he often videotaped their sexual encounters and demanded she dress like a Girl Scout during a relationship that began when she was a minor. Jerhonda Pace resumed her testimony in Brooklyn federal court a day after telling jurors she was a 16-year-old virgin and a member of Kelly’s fan club when he invited her to his mansion in 2009. While there, she said, she was told to follow “Rob’s rules” – instructions to call Kelly “Daddy”, wear baggy clothing to hide her figure and go to Kelly for permission to eat, use the bathroom or make phone calls. She said Kelly – born Robert Sylvester Kelly – sometimes demanded she wear pigtails and “dress like a Girl Scout” during sexual encounters that Kelly often videotaped. Pace, the trial’s first witness, is among multiple female accusers – mostly referred to in court as “Jane Does” – expected to testify at a trial scheduled to last several weeks. Other likely witnesses include cooperating former associates who have never spoken publicly before about their experiences with Kelly. The singer is charged with racketeering, or committing a pattern of multiple crimes as a leader of an “enterprise” consisting of close employees who helped Kelly recruit young women and girls allegedly for sexual relations. Kelly also faces charges for allegedly violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of women and girls for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery. Kelly, 54, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Following opening statements from the prosecution and defense, Pace on Wednesday afternoon answered questions from the prosecution about the relationship she had with Kelly in 2009 and early 2010, when she was 16. She described her eagerness to meet and spend time with Kelly after joining a virtual fan club on MySpace at age 14. She attended the singer’s child sexual abuse images trial in Chicago in 2008, where the singer thanked her in-person for her support and put her in contact with his team. In May 2009, Kelly invited Pace to his house where they had sexual interactions. Pace had told Kelly she was 19 but disclosed that she was actually 16, showing him her state identification card with her date of birth. Kelly allegedly told her “what is that supposed to mean?” and continued to invite her over for sexual interactions in the following months. Pace described how Kelly physically abused her multiple time for breaking “the rules”. In one incident, she did not acknowledge Kelly when he entered the room and was instead on her phone. Kelly did not believe Pace when she said she was texting her friends and quickly became agitated. “That’s when he slapped me and he choked me until I passed out,” Pace said. “When I woke up, I was on the floor.” On cross examination, defense attorney Deveraux Cannick sought to show that Pace mixed up dates about when she interacted with Kelly and that she deceived him by at first lying about herself. “You were in fact stalking him, right?” Cannick asked. “That is not right,” she responded. His questioning fit a theme that defense lawyers have repeatedly pushed early in the trial, that Kelly was victimized by groupies who hounded him at shows and afterward, only to turn against him years later when public sentiment shifted against him, they allege. To bolster their claims against Kelly, prosecutors showed jurors screenshots from Pace’s phone showing several communications with Kelly in January 2010, including a text from him reading, “Please call.” There was also a photo of her with “Rob” tattooed to her chest. She said she had since “covered it up with a black heart”. Pace, the trial’s first witness, was among multiple female accusers – mostly referred to in court as “Jane Does” – expected to testify at a trial scheduled to last several weeks. Other likely witnesses include cooperating former associates who have never spoken publicly before about their experiences with Kelly. The trial is occurring before an anonymous jury of seven men and five women. The New York case is only part of the legal peril facing the singer. He also has pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota.
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