Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
The criminal trial of R & B Singer R. Kelly continues this week. Kelly is charged with 14 counts of child pornography related to a video in which he allegedly is seen having sex with a minor.
Kelly has pled not guilty to all 14 counts and he denies that he is the man seen in the video having sex with the young girl. The alleged victim is now a 23 year-old-woman, and she too denies that she is the girl in the video.
Last week, Chicago Police Officer Delores Gibbon testified that the girl in the video was her niece, who was only 13 or 14 years old when the video was shot. The girl’s childhood best friend Simha Jamison also identified the girl in the video. She also identified Kelly as the man in the video.
Jamison says that she and her friend visited Kelly a number of times at his recording studio and that the singer often gave her friend money, ranging from $100 to $500. She also says that she and her friend visited the home where the sex tape was shot during the time that the video was filmed. The witness says her friend never told her about a sexual relationship with the singer.
The alleged victim’s uncle and aunt also testified in court that she is the girl in the video.
Kelly’s defense attorney has suggested that the star’s image may have been digitally inserted into the video. The singer faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Child Pornography
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s web site says that federal law defines child pornography as “a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, photograph, film, video, or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where it a) depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and is obscene, or b) depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic bestiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, and such depiction lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Owning, making, or distributing child pornography is illegal in Massachusetts and every other US state. If you have been arrested or charged with child pornography in Massachusetts, our Boston sex crimes lawyers can help you fight the charges.
4 witnesses ID alleged victim in R. Kelly trial, AP, May 23, 2008
Child Pornography: What is It?, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Related Web Resources:
R. Kelly trial: 3 best moments for prosecution, defense, Chicago Tribune, May 27, 2008
R. Kelly arrested on new child porn charges, CNN.com, January 22, 2003
Contact Altman & Altman LLP today.
