On Thursday, R. Kelly’s physician of 25 years testified in court that the disgraced singer had genital herpes since at least 2007 and received treatment under his care.
Prosecutors claim Kelly knowingly infected multiple people with the incurable sexually transmitted disease, WSVN reported.
Despite the mounting evidence against R. Kelly, also known as Robert Sylvester Kelly, he has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and violating the Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law.
In another case, Kelly faces federal child pornography and obstruction charges in the Northern District of Illinois and state charges there for multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
He continues to deny these accusations.
Knowing he has an incurable disease and not disclosing it to women he engaged in sexual activity with violates public health laws.
Chicago-based physician Kris McGrath appeared Thursday in a Brooklyn federal court after being served a subpoena. While on the stand, he testified that he’d been treating the singer since 1994.
McGrath stated that he suspected the singer had genital herpes as early as June 2000 due to Kelly’s symptoms. However, a lab test came back negative. McGrath also testified that the timing of the test is important because the test itself can sometimes give false-negative results.
“I did not conclude that he did not have herpes,” McGrath testified, occasionally referring to Kelly’s medical records, which prosecutors obtained through a subpoena.
McGrath said that after examining and testing Kelly in June 2000, he told him to “inform your sexual partners so they can make a decision whether or not to have sex with you.”
McGrath then claimed Kelly or his associates would frequently call him to get more refills of Valtrex—a drug recommended to treat genital herpes—at a Walgreens pharmacy. “It was so often that I had memorized the number to that Walgreens,” he said and recited the phone number in court.
Kelly’s defense attorney Nicole Blank Becker questioned McGrath because, as a doctor, he didn’t document an official genital herpes diagnosis for the singer.
The earliest documentation of McGrath prescribing the herpes treatment drug, Valtrex, wasn’t until March 2007, medical records presented by prosecutors showed. And the earliest documentation showing Kelly had genital herpes wasn’t put in a medical record until 2011.
On Wednesday, Jerhonda Pace testified that Kelly had sexually abused her in 2009 when she was only 16. The two had unprotected sex, and after a few months, she developed genital herpes. She alleges that Kelly did not disclose he had herpes and that Kelly had her examined by a doctor at his home, who told her to take medicine.
“It is difficult to prove because it is not easy to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew he was infected when the sexual intercourse took place,” Roger Canaff, a former assistant district attorney in New York City told CNN. “However, testimony from a doctor who was treating Kelly is damning evidence. It shows that, as far back as 2007, Kelly knew he had a venereal disease. If it can be proven that he knew, and that he continued to have sexual intercourse, then the offense can be proven against him.”
McGrath also admitted that Kelly didn’t pay him for his medical services “at all,” but Kelly often gave him and his wife free tickets to concerts and, at times, paid for them to travel to concerts around the country.
Prosecutors showed a photo of McGrath and Kelly together at a cigar bar in Chicago in early 2019. McGrath said that day was the last time he spoke with Kelly and that the photo was taken shortly before the singer’s arrest.
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