R. Kelly faces allegation of underage sex and physical abuse

Another woman has accused R&B singer R Kelly of physical abuse and underage sex.

Following recent allegations that he was brainwashing women in a cult-like setup, Jerhonda Pace says that she lost her virginity to Kelly aged 16, one year below the age of consent in Illinois where the incident took place.

Speaking to Jim DeRogatis of Buzzfeed, who has reported on allegations against Kelly for many years, Pace reveals she broke off contact with Kelly after an incident claiming, “I was slapped and I was choked and I was spit on” by him.

Pace chose not to press criminal charges, saying “it would probably be like it was last time, where he wouldn’t get convicted”. She instead says she negotiated a settlement payment and signed a non-disclosure agreement, which she is now breaking with the new revelations.

Last month, a number of women went public with claims that Kelly was a “puppet master” who kept them in a cult-like controlled environment, where they were expected to have sex with him and follow rules regarding their freedom of movement, phone usage, diet, clothing and even use of the toilet.

On August 31, 1994, R Kelly, then 27, married R&B singer Aaliyah, who was 15 years old at the time, in Rosemont, Ill. A falsified Cook County marriage certificate listed her age as 18, as DeRogatis later reported in the Sun-Times. The marriage was annulled soon after and records were sealed.