‘There Is No Evidence’: R. Kelly Raises Questions About Alleged Victim's STD Accusation Ahead Of Sentencing
Jun. 17 2022, Published 3:12 p.m. ET
R. Kelly's team has been attempting to cast doubt upon prosecutors' claim he gave his ex-girlfriend Faith an STD — days before the disgraced singer will find out his prison fate.
According to court documents obtained by Radar, Kelly argues the judge should not consider the allegation during his sentencing later this month.
In 2018, Kelly was sued by a woman named Faith Rodgers. In court documents, she claimed to have met the singer after a 2017 Texas concert when she was 19.
A couple of months later, she said Kelly paid for her to fly to New York for one of his shows.
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She claimed he met her in a hotel room after and forced himself on her. Faith said Kelly initiated “unwanted sexual contact” including intercourse.
The suit accused Kelly of “abusive sex” and then criticizing Faith for being vanilla in bed. She said they dated for one year where he sexually and verbally abused her.
During the relationship, she said Kelly locked her in rooms and had a female employee make sure she didn’t leave.
In her suit, Faith claimed to have contracted Herpes from Kelly. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for sexual battery and false imprisonment. The lawsuit was put on hold while Kelly's criminal cases moved forward.
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- Prosecutors To R. Kelly: The Jury Needs To Hear About Your Alleged Herpes During Sex Trafficking Trial Whether You Like It Or Not
- Prosecutors Believe R. Kelly Has Had Herpes Since 2003, Allegedly Lied To Alleged Victims Despite Them Asking About STDs
Faith's testimony was also used during the trial where prosecutors accused the singer of running a years-long scheme to recruit young women to abuse.
In September, Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering. The government demands he be sentenced to 25 years while the singer wants only 10 years.
As part of his argument for a soft sentence, Kelly said the government’s evidence “does not show that [Kelly falsely represented anything to Faith or that Faith relied on any misrepresentation. Most importantly, there is no evidence of harm since Faith did not contract herpes from [Kelly.]”
He said Faith testified in court that after traveling “to New York, she was diagnosed with herpes type 1 after getting cold sores on her mouth.”
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Kelly’s team argued, “Nearly 50% of the population has herpes type one (cold sores). Even the government’s expert would concede that herpes type 1 can be contracted from kissing.”
The singer said there was no evidence presented that Faith suffered any harm in connection with [Kelly’s] purported failure to disclose his herpes diagnosis.”