Two R. Kelly accusers take stand, say they were sexually abused by singer while underage

CHICAGO - Two additional accusers took the witness stand in R. Kelly’s federal child pornography trial Monday, alleging the superstar sexually abused them when they were minors in the late 1990s.

Their testimony comes as federal prosecutors say their case against the imprisoned singer is coming to a close, and provided some of the most disturbing allegations leveled against the singer so far during the three weeks of testimony.

The two women testified using pseudonyms. One, "Pauline," is now 37. The other, "Tracy," is now 40. Both said they’ve referred to Kelly in the past as "Daddy."

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Pauline said that she was introduced to Kelly at age 14 by a friend who has been identified in court as "Jane." Jane took the stand early in the trial, telling jurors that Kelly sexually abused her on video when she was also 14.

Tracy said that she met the singer on the first or second day of an internship for Kelly’s record label, and that the singer tried to get her to sit on his lap within minutes of meeting her. Days later, the singer invited her and a friend to his downtown recording studio, and masturbated as he sat next to her on a couch. Sometime later, Kelly forced her to have sex at a downtown hotel, while she was 16.

"I told him I didn’t want to have sex," she said. "He had forced himself in me, but when I asked him to stop he did stop."

Pauline smiled and remained poised, even as she jousted with Kelly’s attorneys on cross-examination. Tracy spoke softly, her voice breaking often as she recalled her encounters with the singer.

Pauline said that she walked in on Kelly and a naked Jane in the log cabin-themed room of Kelly’s Lake View mansion. The singer said he was "checking her for bruises because she hurt herself."

"I told him that that’s not how you look for bruises, and he said that’s how he looks for bruises and that he said we all have secrets," Pauline told jurors.

Kelly then allegedly encouraged Pauline and Jane to kiss and fondle each other. Pauline said she started having sexual intercourse with Kelly at age 15, and by the time she reached the age of consent in Illinois two years later, she had participated in numerous threesomes with Kelly, Jane and a third underage friend.

R. Kelly, left, stands in court before Judge Lawrence Flood at Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on June 6, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Pauline was questioned by police in 2001 as investigators were probing allegations surrounding a videotape of Kelly allegedly engaged in sex with Jane. With her mother in the interrogation room, Pauline said she identified Jane in a still from the video, but didn’t volunteer more information at the time.

"I was nervous because my mom was with me… I knew my mom knew that it was Jane, so I couldn’t say it wasn’t Jane," Pauline said.

Pauline continued her relationship with Kelly for years and told no one about her own sexual encounters with Kelly.

"They didn’t have pictures of me, I didn’t need to insert myself into that situation," she said.

Pauline recalled her relationship with the singer as "like best friend-meets-boyfriend-meets-dad."

Asked why she was coming forward now with her full story, Pauline said she had matured.

"Because I’m in a different place in life," she said. "I have direct accountability for having sex with him. I could probably have said no or told my mom or someone else sooner, but… I cared about him and I loved him."

"Things I thought were cool when I was teenager… that’s not OK when I’m a 37-year-old mother and somebody did something to my kids I’m killing ‘em. Period," she said.

During a lively cross-examination, Kelly’s lawyer tried to point out an inconsistency in the number of times Pauline said she had sex with the singer during the years she was under 17. Pauline said on the stand Monday the number was more than 80, but defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean noted she previously said hundreds.

"You could say a hundred, you could say 200, we f—-d a lot," she said. "I would say whether it was once or twice, what’s wrong is wrong."

Tracy took the stand later Monday, explaining that she was 16 when she was introduced to Kelly in 1999 by her boss during an internship at Epic Records. She said Kelly gave her his phone number when she tried to get his autograph for a friend.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering in a federal trial in New York last year and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in June.

In his current trial, Kelly faces charges alleging child pornography, obstruction of justice and the enticement of minors into criminal sexual activity.