R. Kelly’s Co-Defendant and Former Business Manager Says He Didn’t Believe Early Sex Abuse Claims
R. Kelly’s ex-business manager says he didn’t believe claims from decades ago that the singer sexually abused underage girls.
Testifying yesterday in front of a federal jury, Derrel McDavid said he was convinced that the allegations were just part of a plot orchestrated by the singer’s enemies to destroy him.
McDavid admitted to jurors that he had seen the prosecution’s star witness, according to the AP. Referred to by the pseudonym “Jane” at the current trial, when she was a minor hanging around Kelly’s studio in the late 1990s. He said Kelly “angrily denied” any rumors that he was sexually abusing Jane, who Kelly described as his god daughter at the time.
“I believed him,” McDavid testified.
READ MORE: Prosecution Closing Out, Defense Expected To Call Witnesses In R. Kelly Trial
McDavid is on trial alongside Kelly in Chicago. He is charged with helping the convicted R&B singer foil an earlier 2008 child-pornography trial that resulted in Kelly’s acquittal.
This comes nearly two months after Kelly was given a 30-year sentence in New York City on racketeering and other sex trafficking charges. He has maintained his innocence.
Continue the conversation on social media.