R. Kelly’s former goddaughter and alleged victim takes witness stand at his federal trial in Chicago

CHICAGO — For the first time after two decades of swirling allegations, R. Kelly’s former goddaughter has taken the stand as a prosecution witness in a case against the disgraced singer.

The woman, now 37 and testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” is expected to testify at the singer’s federal trial in Chicago that she was in fact the girl depicted on video footage being sexually abused by Kelly.

Jane and her parents had denied for years that Kelly ever had an inappropriate relationship with her. Jane was not called to testify at Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial for child pornography, even though county prosecutors alleged she was the girl on the tape.

Federal prosecutors allege Kelly and his associates paid off Jane and her family and covered up other videotapes in order to rig his Cook County trial. He was acquitted on those charges in 2008.

Prosecutors earlier called to the witness stand a man who in 2001 purchased a big house in Lakeview: a converted church with a swimming pool and basketball court and a barbershop. The previous owner was, he came to find out, R. Kelly.

Kelly allegedly filmed at least one of the videos at issue in his federal indictment at that home, and in 2002, police evidence technicians came through to take photos, including pictures of the wood-paneled room depicted on the tape.

After Matthew Hulsizer moved in, he found out that a smoke detector in at least one of the bedrooms was not in fact a smoke detector at all — it concealed a small hidden video camera. And in order to leave the bedroom, you had to press a button, he said, a feature he removed since he thought it was a safety hazard.

A basketball court in the George Street home was an homage to Kelly’s success with a large cartoon mural painted on one wall depicting the Looney Tunes characters from the movie “Space Jam,” which had featured Kelly’s Grammy-winning song.

The cartoon included a likeness of Kelly on the court in red uniform and sunglasses, according to photos presented by the government, playing with the Tasmanian Devil. The cartoon scoreboard showed he was winning by two points with one second left on the clock. Some in the crowd of cartoon characters, which included Tweety Bird and Marvin the Martian, were holding up signs.

The “Colorado Room” looked like the interior of a log cabin with faux wood walls and an ascent wall that appeared to be fake stone. A large hot tub dominated the room, also ensconced in fake wood paneling.

The photos of the master bedroom presented by prosecutors included close-ups of the “escape” button and the smoke detector on the ceiling where the new owner said he’d found a small hidden video camera.

Kelly sat dressed in a dark blue suit. Before court began, a marshal came out to the table to ask for a tie for him, telling his lawyers “he wants the brown one today”

Testimony had resumed Thursday with cross-examination of a retired Chicago police detective who investigated the initial allegations that Kelly was sexually abusing his teenage goddaughter.

On the stand again Thursday, Daniel Everett reiterated that when he spoke to “Jane” and her parents in 2000, they denied that the girl had any kind of inappropriate relationship with Kelly.

A little more than a year later, he got a tape from then-Chicago Sun-Times journalist Jim DeRogatis and recognized “Jane” on the footage. That video became the center of Kelly’s Cook County court case 20 years ago.

Defense attorneys hit hard on chain-of-custody issues surrounding the tape. Everett noted that he has recently seen a copy of the footage and the content is the same, but he does not know where the original VHS tape is.

On cross-examination from Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean, Everett noted that he also interviewed a friend of Jane’s in 2002. That person is expected to testify later at trial under the pseudonym “Pinky.”

There is no indication in Everett’s reports that underage Pinky told him she had sexual contact with Kelly, Everett testified. And while there were concerns that a videotape depicted images of Pinky being abused, when Everett showed her and her mother stills from the tape, they denied it any involvement, he testified.

Prosecutors’ very first witness was a psychologist whose testimony was intended to provide context or explanation for some of the witnesses’ behavior, including that victims often keep their abuse secret for years.

The tape allegedly filmed in that Lakeview house is one of four at the center of the child pornography charges against Kelly, who is also accused along with former associates Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown of conspiring to rig his 2008 trial.

In opening statements, prosecutors painted Kelly as a serial predator, who had sexual contact with underage girls hundreds of times over the years. Five women including “Pinky” and “Jane” are expected to testify over the course of the trial that Kelly sexually abused them when they were teenagers.

Kelly’s lead attorney Jennifer Bonjean, meanwhile, said prosecutors’ case “really does hinge on the testimony of liars, extortionists, (and) people who engaged in the business of trafficking pornography.”

Opening statements began Wednesday after two full days of jury selection. The 12 jurors and six alternates were sworn in late Tuesday; on Wednesday morning, one juror was replaced with an alternate after developing a medical issue. They are expected to hear evidence and arguments over roughly the next four weeks.

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