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The opening arguments were presented in the Chicago court today as the child pornography trial in which R&B singer R. Kelly is involved started. Prosecutors began by saying to the jury that Mr. Kelly produced and starred in a "vile, disturbing and disgusting" sex video with an under aged girl.
The defense lawyers on the other hand said their client is nowhere to be seen in the 26-minute tape and the film doesn’t show the alleged victim of the Grammy Award winner.
The recording, which was made between January 1998 and November 2000 according to the prosecutors, was to be shown in court.
"You will see the sex acts he commands her to do," Shauna Boliker of the Cook County state's attorney's office told the jury. She described the sex acts as “vile, disturbing and disgusting” and at the same time she claimed that the video clearly shows an important fact – the acts were “choreographed, produced and starred in” by R. Kelly.
According to Boliker, one can clearly see that the girl is under aged and that she was doing what she was told without her consent.
“There's no feeling in her face,” Boliker said.
After being given a preview of the recording, the jury saw the sex tape which depicts a man handing cash to a female, who thanks the man for the money and calls him “Daddy”. She is often blank-faced and impassive, wxyz.com reported.
Mr. Kelly closely watched the entire footage on a small monitor placed on the defense table.
Prosecutors face a tough task because the girl is now 23 years old and she said it’s not her in the video recording.
On the other hand, defense lawyer Sam Adam said the FBI reviewed the tape and could not identify Mr. Kelly.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a trial which started six years ago. The 41-year-old artist was charged in 2002 with 21 counts relating to child pornography. He was released on $750,000 bail and since then seven of those charges were dropped.
However, if prosecutors can prove the videotape features R. Kelly and an underage girl, the R&B superstar could get as many as 15 years in jail.
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