Accuser’s mom: R Kelly’s threats made her fear for her life

By MICHAEL TARM
AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — A mother whose daughter prosecutors say R. Kelly sexually abused starting when she was 14 told jurors has testified at Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago. She told jurors Monday that she lied to a state grand jury 20 years ago, in part, because she and her husband felt threatened by Kelly and feared for their lives if they told the truth. The mom described how she, her husband and Kelly were crying when the parents confronted Kelly in the early 2000s about whether he was abusing their daughter. She testified they were startled when Kelly told them, “You are with us or against us.” She said she took those words to mean “that they were going to harm us if we didn’t do what they wanted us to do.”