R. Kelly's sexual abuse trial began with prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez telling the courtroom that the disgraced R&B singer is a "predator".

During opening statements on Wednesday (August 18), Cruz Melendez said that for decades, Kelly "used his fame, his popularity and a network of people at his disposal to target, groom, and exploit girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification”.

Cruz Melendez added that Kelly’s alleged pattern of abuse coincided with the growth of his career, and “success and popularity brought him… access to girls, boys and young women,” whom he “dominated” and exerted control over.

The charges are in relation to Kelly's alleged crimes against five female accusers (three of whom were supposedly underage at the time of his abuse). They all allege physical, psychological, and sexual abuse.

Kelly has pled not guilty to all of the charges, and denied any wrongdoing. The 54 year old is facing nine charges, including one of racketeering and eight violations of the Mann Act, which makes it criminal to transport any woman or girl across state lines for "immoral" reasons, such as illegal sexual activity.

The prosecution is alleging that Kelly ran a racketeering operation from 1994 up until his arrest in 2019. Allegedly, his network of managers, bodyguards and more to facilitate his crimes.

Cruz Melendez also said in her opening statements that Kelly – full name Robert Sylvester Kelly – employed “lies, manipulations, threats and physical abuse” in order to control his victims, and allegedly would record footage of his sexual encounters with the accusers in an attempt to stop them from speaking out against him.

One of the more prominent of these relationships was with late R&B singer Aaliyah. Cruz Melendez detailed the relationship in her opening statements, saying that Aaliyah began working with Kelly when she was 15 and he was 27. Cruz Melendez said their relationship became sexual shortly after they began their working partnership.

Prosecutors will be arguing that Aaliyah's marriage to Kelly came after she became pregnant at the age of 15, and that the marriage would have prevented Aaliyah – who died in a plane crash in 2001 – from testifying against him.

The trial is expected to last a month, and will include testimony from several female accusers, and at least one male accuser.

The first woman to testify was Jerhonda Pace, who claimed that Kelly knew she was 16 years old when the two engaged in sexual activity, but that he told her to pretend she was 19 years of age.

Pace was an avid fan of the singer, and was a member of his MySpace fan club. She alleged that she and Kelly had multiple sexual encounters over six months, claiming that Kelly invited her to his mansion and instructed her to remove her clothes, saying he was going to "train her" sexually.

Another of Kelly's victims, a woman identified as Sonja, alleges she was sexually abused nearly 20 years ago at Kelly’s Chicago studio. Prosecutors said that when she arrived, she was led to a room and locked in for three days, “pleading to get out, to go home, to get some food [and] to go to the bathroom”.

Prosecutors also allege that after falling asleep, she woke up and immediately realised she had been sexually assaulted.

Kelly's lawyer, Nicole Blank Becker, plans to argue that the jury will hear all of Kelly's relationships were "consensual," and that his accusers "knew what they were getting into."

Kelly was arrested in 2019. He was taken into custody on 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and then arrested in July of that year, following an indictment on 13 further charges.

This trial has been highly anticipated since the release of an explosive documentary called Surviving R. Kelly, but has been delayed multiple times due to the pandemic.

It will continue today (August 19). If convicted, Kelly faces decades in prison. He is also facing charges sex-related charges in Minnesota and Illinois. He has pled not guilty to every charge.

For more information regarding sexual assault, abuse, or rape, you can go to:

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Phone: 1800 778 888

Rape Crisis NI
Phone: 0800 0246 991