The first man to publicly accuse R. Kelly of sexual abuse testified Monday, August 30, at the singer's federal sex crimes trial in Brooklyn.
The 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer is on trial in New York after being charged with racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, forced labor, kidnapping, enticement, and bribery. Kelly has denied the charges against him.
Testifying under the pseudonym "Louis," the man said Kelly had sexually assaulted him repeatedly while he was a 17-year-old high school student, per CNN.
He recalled meeting the 'Bump n' Grind' singer in 2006 while working the overnight shift at a McDonald's drive-thru in suburban Chicago.
Kelly, who was 39 at the time, asked for the phone number of Louis' female manager, and gave a slip of paper with his own phone number to Louis to thank him.
Louis, an aspiring R&B musician himself, texted Kelly - whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly - and was soon invited to one of the singer's music studios to play some music he had worked on.
However, things didn't go too well for Louis, as Kelly shut the music off shortly after playing it.
"He let the song play for only five seconds and he said he didn't like it," Louis said, per CNN.
Louis left the studio discouraged that Kelly - hailed as "the king of R&B" - wasn't interested in his music.
Despite that, he continued to text the music superstar, and later saw him at a gym around the corner from the McDonald's he worked at.
The then-17-year-old was regularly invited to Kelly's home for parties and to play basketball with the singer.
Louis went on to recall Kelly inviting him to a studio at his home in a suburb of Chicago.
When Louis got there, he said the pair met in a detached garage where Kelly had exercise equipment and a boxing ring, rather than in one of the music studios the singer had in the main building.
"He asked me what I was willing to do for music," Louis testified, per CNN.
Louis said he offered up ways he could be of help to Kelly, such as carrying his bags.
This, however, this not interest Kelly, according to Louis. "He asked me if I had any fantasies," Louis said on the stand, then quoted Kelly: "'You never had fantasies about men?'" "I said no," Louis continued.
"And then he crawled down on his knees and proceeded to give me oral sex. He zipped my pants down and he started doing it," Louis added.
On that first occasion Kelly performed oral sex, Louis testified that he told the singer to stop. After Kelly stepped back, he swore Louis to secrecy.
"Don't tell anyone," Kelly said, according to Louis. "We're brothers now."
Louis said he continued to see Kelly, still hoping to be mentored for his music career.
He said Kelly sexually abused him on subsequent occasions, recording those encounters on an iPad and camcorders and asking that he call him "daddy."