The prosecution in the R. Kelly child pornography trial rested on Monday (June 2), but not before a final witness, Lisa Van Allen, 27, cried on the stand as she testified that she had three-way sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim, whom prosecutors claim was as young as 13 when she had sex with Kelly. Van Allen testified that Kelly taped their trysts and alleged that last year he offered her $250,000 to recover one of the tapes. She told the court that Kelly seemed obsessed with taping his exploits and claims he carried around a bag full of the homemade videos. ''He carried it everywhere with him,'' she said. ''Wherever he was at, the bag would follow him.'' The defense claimed that Van Allen is a thief (she admitted that she once stole a $20,000 watch from Kelly) and that she was merely trying to extort money from the singer.
Kelly, 41, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with the alleged victim, who herself says she is not the person depicted in the tape, which is separate from the tapes Van Allen referred to. The prosecution showed the tape in court just hours after opening statements. It called more than a dozen witnesses over two weeks and rested after Van Allen's testimony. The defense begins its presentation today. (AP)
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