13 hours ago
4
The pistillate who testified arsenic Jane Doe astatine R. Kelly's 2022 national trial told "CBS Mornings" it feels "very liberating" to yet uncover her individuality and talk publically astir the narration she formed with the R&B vocalist erstwhile she was conscionable a teenager.
"I truly wanted to unrecorded successful my existent tegument and my existent self. My existent aforesaid contiguous is Reshona Landfair," Landfair, present 41, told "CBS Mornings" successful her archetypal TV interrogation astir her memoir, "Who's Watching Shorty?: Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly's Abuse."
Kelly was convicted of racketeering and enactment crimes successful 2 abstracted national trials successful 2021 and 2022. Kelly's ineligible troubles started galore years earlier that, including erstwhile a portion that helium had filmed performing enactment acts connected a 14-year-old miss leaked successful 2001. That miss is present identified arsenic Landfair.
The commencement of R. Kelly's alleged grooming
Landfair had dreams of becoming a star. In the 90s, she was a kid rapper and came from a philharmonic household successful Chicago. Her aunt, R&B vocalist Sparkle, yet introduced her to Kelly, whose afloat sanction is Robert Sylvester Kelly.
In the book, Landfair writes that her aunt Sparkle told her, "The adjacent clip we're astatine the studio, you should inquire Robert to beryllium your godfather," and to beryllium connected his thigh and hitch his head.
"That is the commencement of him entering into my beingness successful a antithetic mode than conscionable being an creator oregon hanging retired astatine the studio. It became much personable astatine that moment," Landfair said.
Landfair said Kelly agreed to beryllium her godfather. Soon after, erstwhile she was astir 13, Landfair alleged the vocalist began grooming her and touching her inappropriately. At 1 point, she said her aunt Sparkle suspected thing wasn't close and called societal services.
"I don't deliberation they believed her due to the fact that determination were nary evident signs of what was really taking place," Landfair said.
"I was empty"
A fewer weeks earlier her 17th day successful 2001, Landfair said Kelly told her that a enactment portion filmed erstwhile she was 14 was being sold nationwide. He was arrested connected child pornography charges related to the portion successful 2002.
"I was empty. I was precise hollow inside. I was precise confused," Landfair recalled erstwhile she heard the enactment portion had been leaked.
According to Landfair, Kelly told her parents that helium was successful emotion with their girl aft the enactment portion leaked.
"It was precise complicated," Landfair said. "My dada wanted to marque the close determination and helium was not OK with thing that took place." Landfair claimed that she was brainwashed by Kelly.
"He utilized maine against my parents — making threats of termination and doing antithetic things retired of desperation to person them to not crook connected him," Landfair said.
In 2008, a assemblage successful Chicago acquitted Kelly successful the kid pornography case. Landfair aboriginal said she lied to a expansive jury, erstwhile she testified that the young miss connected the enactment portion was not her – calling it "one of [her] biggest regrets."
Life-changing moment
For Landfair, the 2019 Lifetime docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly," changed everything.
"The tone of condemnation came implicit maine during that moment," Landfair said. "Somehow, I felt liable that helium was capable to wounded truthful galore much people. During the time, I thought possibly these were conscionable intersexual fetishes that helium had with me. Maybe this was conscionable maltreatment I was going through."
"But erstwhile I saw that his behaviour had gotten truthful overmuch worse and helium was allowed to wounded truthful galore radical due to the fact that I lied – that did not beryllium good with maine arsenic an adult, arsenic a woman," she added.
A fewer months aft the docuseries was released, national prosecutors charged the vocalist with enactment trafficking, racketeering and different crimes successful New York and successful Chicago.
In 2021, Kelly was convicted connected counts of racketeering and enactment trafficking successful a New York proceedings and sentenced to 30 years successful prison. A twelvemonth later, Landfair testified against him successful a abstracted Chicago trial, wherever helium was convicted connected aggregate counts, including kid pornography, and acquitted of 7 others, including a complaint of obstruction of justness related to his 2008 kid pornography case. He was sentenced to 20 years successful national prison, to beryllium served consecutively with his New York sentence.
In a connection to CBS News, Sparkle said she's "relieved that Reshona is yet escaped to talk her information and statesman her healing journey."
Sparkle, who testified successful Kelly's 2008 proceedings and spoke retired successful the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries, added: "Any proposition that I groomed, facilitated, oregon enabled harm to my niece is untrue and profoundly painful, particularly fixed my documented actions astatine the clip and throughout." In an interrogation successful 2019, Sparkle told Jericka Duncan that she was "the archetypal idiosyncratic who spoke up and retired against him, and I did it alone."
"This is the opening of Reshona's lengthy deprogramming journey," Sparkle's connection read. "It is existent that she is simply a subsister of years of abuse, inactive learning to process what happened to her and who is responsible. It is besides existent and good documented that I stood up for her to effort and halt the damage being done to her and countless others. I privation her continued healing and bid arsenic she continues to not lone find her voice, but hopefully necessitate accountability from those closest to her."
In a statement, Kelly's lawyer said, successful part: "Neither Mr. Kelly nor his ineligible counsel person been provided with an beforehand transcript of Ms. Landfair's memoir. It is, therefore, intolerable to remark connected immoderate circumstantial allegation. Nor does Mr. Kelly privation to prosecute successful immoderate benignant of refutation that would, successful immoderate way, bounds the fiscal occurrence of Ms. Landfair's memoir."
The connection went connected to accidental that Kelly "wishes her occurrence and bid astatine each levels."
In her memoir, "Who's Watching Shorty?," Landfair speaks straight to survivors and reminds herself that she, too, deserves grace. "Embrace this adjacent section successful your travel with anticipation that God volition works caller dreams successful the fertile psyche of your heart," writes Landfair. "Love you times infinity, Reshona."
Landfair is present a parent to a 5-year-old boy. She is besides the laminitis of Project Refine, an enactment she says she's gathering with the extremity of mentoring girls and women. She explained: "I'm conscionable trying to enactment my champion ft guardant and usage each of this symptom and crook it into purpose."
"I'm precise arrogant of myself. I've travel a agelong way. A batch of acold nights. But I'm present today," she said.
In:
English (US) ·