A woman claims she had underage sex with R. Kelly and entered an abusive relationship with him after meeting the singer outside his 2008 child pornography trial in Chicago when she was just 15 years old.
Jerhonda Johnson, who is now a 24-year-old mother-of-three claims the star controlled her life after embarking on a sexual relationship with him aged 16. The legal age of consent in Illinois is 17.
Johnson is currently suing the star who has previously made cash settlements to other women claiming they were mistreated by the singer.
Jerhonda Johnson, pictured, claims she first met singer R Kelly when she was 15 while attending his trial in 2008 in Chicago when he faced 14 child pornography charges
R&B singer R Kelly has been accused of holding women in his control including their actions such as when they can eat or use the bathroom, allegations he strongly denies
One woman, Jerhonda Johnson, 24, claimed she first met the singer when he was on trial in Chicago in 2008, pictured center, when he was found not guilty of child pornography charges
Johnson, who was 15 at the time of the trial, said she first had sex with the singer, pictured here outside Cook County Courthouse in Chicago in May 2008, once she turned 16
She told Buzzfeed that Kelly is running a ‘cult’ and she is concerned that a friend of hers may still be involved.
She said: ‘If I can speak out and I can help them get out of that situation, that’s what I will do.
‘I didn’t have anybody to speak up on my behalf when I was going through what I was going through with him. He’s brainwashed them really bad, and it kind of reminds me of Charles Manson.
‘I just really hope I can help these women out. Kelly needs to be stopped.’
According to Johnson, Kelly invited her back to his mansion in June 2009 when asked her to strip and pretend she was modelling. It was at this stage the sexual relationship between the pair began.
She told Buzzfeed that the relationship lasted seven months and many of the encounters were filmed on Kelly’s cell phone.
During weekends at his home in Olympia Fields, Illinois, Johnson said Kelly was incredibly controlling, ordering her to dress in a certain manner and to hand over her phone. She had to ask Kelly’s permission to use the bathroom, eat a meal or have a shower.
Johnson said her relationship with Kelly ended in January 2010.
Speaking last month, Kelly said he was ‘alarmed and disturbed’ by the cult allegations
The 50-year-old singer has repeatedly denied allegations of underage sex and ‘cult’ claims that he was holding women and exerting control over all aspects of their lives.
He said he was ‘alarmed and disturbed’ by the allegations.
His lawyer, Linda Mensch said: ‘Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies such accusations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name.’
The parents of one alleged victim held a news conference outside the residence near Atlanta and said their 21-year-old daughter had cut off contact.
‘My daughter is severely brainwashed,’ mother Jonjelyn Savage said.
‘We just want him to release her and let her go on with her life,’ she told reporters.
The daughter, Jocelyn Savage, denied coercion in a video interview with gossip site TMZ.
Families of women in Kelly’s inner circle claim they have been ‘brainwashed’ by the singer
‘I only want to say that I am in a happy place with my life and I’m not being brainwashed or anything like that,’ she said, while declining to answer more detailed questions about her conditions.
She said that she had not spoken to her parents as their allegations had caused a rift.
Kelly — who lives partially at the Trump Tower in his native Chicago — is one of the most successful R&B singers of recent years but has been repeatedly hit by scandal.
In 2008, he was acquitted of charges of child pornography after the Chicago Sun-Times reported that it had a video of the singer involved in sexual acts with an underage girl.
BuzzFeed News, which quoted people close to Kelly, described him as a cult-like figure and said that women allegedly under his spell included aspiring musicians.
Kitti Jones, said to be a former member of Kelly’s inner circle, said the singer once held her against a tree and slapped her outside a restaurant of the sandwich chain Subway after he felt she was too friendly with the cashier.
Cheryl Mack, described as Kelly’s former personal assistant, said the singer insisted that the women wear jogging suits and face the wall when other men could see them.
Kelly ‘is a master of mind control,’ Mack was quoted as saying.
But the report said that police have looked into allegations and not taken action as the women are of legal age and are seen as in consensual relationships.
In 2008, a jury took 24 hours to clear Kelly of 14 counts of child pornography.
Prosecutors had argued that a video sent to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2002 showed Kelly engaged in graphic sex acts with a girl as young as 13 at the time.
Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for ‘I Believe I Can Fly’.