The woman — now 37 and identified in court only under the pseudonym “Jane” — is one of the main witnesses at the center of the government’s latest case against Kelly. She was allegedly the 14-year-old girl who later appeared in child pornography videos Kelly allegedly produced. 

Opening statements got underway at the Dirksen Federal Building on Wednesday in R. Kelly’s second federal trial, where he stands accused of multiple child pornography-related charges, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Jury selection in R. Kelly’s trial began Monday inside a 25th-floor courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building, where the 55-year-old Chicago native stands accused of multiple child pornography-related charges, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Jury selection begins Monday morning at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown, where the 55-year-old Chicago native will stand trial, nearly a year after a New York jury convicted him of sex trafficking and other charges.

R. Kelly goes into Chicago federal court already sentenced by a New York federal judge to 30-year prison term for a 2021 conviction on charges he parlayed his fame to sexually abuse other young fans.

Donnell Russell, 47, of Chicago, entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation to silence one of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse victims.

Federal records show that R. Kelly is currently being housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago following an extended stay in a New York detention center during his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in that jurisdiction.

A day after R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison following his racketeering conviction in New York, a federal judge has denied a request to throw out additional charges against the R&B singer ahead of his upcoming trial in Chicago.

R. Kelly has been jailed without bail since in 2019. He’s still facing child pornography and obstruction of justice charges in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 15.

A New York City jury found Kelly guilty of racketeering and multiple other counts last year at a sex-trafficking trial. Prosecutors alleged that the entourage of managers and aides who helped Kelly meet girls — and keep them obedient — amounted to a criminal enterprise.

More than 200 participants joined the public teleconference call Tuesday morning, which devolved into a yelling match between several people after the judge denied Kelly’s motion.

“The defendant’s concerns do not justify the significant delay in sentencing that his request entails,” U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly said in a ruling Thursday.

The attorney for the convicted R&B singer is asking a federal judge for a delay until later this year, arguing they won’t be able to “protect (his) constitutional rights” at sentencing without compromising his Fifth Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber appeared to have wanted the trial in Chicago to begin earlier, but he set it for Aug. 1 after one of R. Kelly’s attorneys, Steven Greenberg, said that he another of Kelly’s attorneys will be in trial on other cases through July.

Speaking out against sexual assault and violence is fraught for anyone who attempts it. Those who work in the field say the hurdles facing Black women and girls are raised even higher by a society that hypersexualizes them from a young age.

R. Kelly, the R&B superstar known for his anthem “I Believe I Can Fly,” was convicted Monday in a sex trafficking trial after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct with young women and children.