Day three of R. Kelly’s federal sex-trafficking trial saw a man who worked for singer R. Kelly as an alleged ‘runner’ testified under subpoena for the prosecution on Friday.
The 54-year-old’s federal trial for racketeering and sex trafficking charges continued for the third day in Brooklyn, New York, with Kelly denying the charges.
Between 2007 and 2009, Anthony Navarro worked for Kelly in his Chicago-area home studio while in his twenties.
He described Kelly’s home as a ‘strange place’ and told the jury that Kelly’s ‘girls’ and ‘girlfriends’ had to ‘get permission for most things’ under ‘Rob’s rules.’
‘If they’re not where they’re supposed to be, you’d have to tell Rob or a manager,’ said Navarro, who said he’s also worked for Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. ‘They weren’t supposed to be wandering around, they weren’t supposed to leave the room.’
During his time working for Kelly, Navarro claimed he had to drive the singer’s guests to the airport, around town and to the singer’s Olympia Fields mansion.
Navarro testified that while he was on tour with Kelly in November 2008, he saw Kelly’s associates hand out the singer’s phone number to people in the audience at shows and sometimes also at malls or restaurants.
He claimed he was not allowed to speak to the ‘young’ girls as he drove them around or when they were in the house.
After Navarro escorted a guest to her designated room, she was supposed to stay there, he testified.
He told the jury: ‘If they’re not where they’re supposed to be, you’d have to tell Rob or a manager. They weren’t supposed to be wandering around, they weren’t supposed to leave the room.’
Prosecutors have alleged that Kelly had rules confining girls and young women to their rooms, sometimes for days at a time.
Navarro stated: ‘It was a weird time for me… The things you had to do was just a bit uncomfortable. The music and production stuff was really good. All the other stuff was kind of strange…It was almost like the ‘Twilight Zone. You went into the gate and it was like a different world.’
Elsewhere, R. Kelly’s personal physician of 25 years took the stand Thursday to testify about his treatment of the singer’s genital herpes since at least 2007, after prosecutors allege the singer knowingly infected multiple people with the incurable sexually transmitted disease.
During the trial, prosecutors will attempt to argue that the Grammy-winning singer ran a criminal scheme in which women and underage girls were recruited to engage in sexual activity with him.
Kelly, was first arrested on sex-related charges in 2002 after a video, allegedly showing him having sex with a 14-year-old girl, was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times, but he was acquitted in 2008 after lengthy delays.
The trial is occurring before an anonymous jury of seven men and five women.
Following multiple delays mostly due to the pandemic, the trial continues under coronavirus precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds.
The musician is currently facing accusations of sexual exploitation of children and has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the states of Illinois, New York, and Minnesota.
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