Nicki Minaj’s brother, Jelani Maraj, is headed to trial on child rape charges, stemming from the 2015 accusations of repeatedly raping and sodomizing a 12-year-old girl. On Thursday, prosecutors stood before a judge at a hearing in the sex crimes division of Nassau County Supreme Court to introduce new disturbing details of Maraj’s recurrent assault.
According to Bossip, the victim told prosecutors that Maraj would resort to violence when she rejected his advances. Nassau Assistant District Attorney Emma Slane said the 12-year-old revealed that Maraj would threaten her with sodomy and physical violence, adding that she planned to use the new revelation in the forthcoming trial.
“He would make several threats to her,” Slane said in court. “If she resisted in any way, he would threaten to engage in anal intercourse with her, which she said would hurt her.”
Slane said he would hit the little girl so hard, that she would cry. In addition, she said when the girl’s younger sibling witnessed the alleged assault, Maraj demanded that child to keep quiet, just before striking the child in the face.
“These children were in fear of him,” she added in court.
Maraj’s lawyer, David Schwartz, said the new allegations should not be introduced in the trial, as the 12-year-old never looked upset or in distress while with Maraj, backing his claim with pictures and video evidence of the little girl in Maraj’s company.
According to Bossip, Minaj’s brother initially faced 15 years to life after prosecutors offered him a plea deal. However, on Thursday, Slane took the deal off the table when they were unable to come to an agreement with the defense on the amount of time Maraj was to spend behind bars under the deal.
Maraj’s trial is set to commence in mid-April after the initial date was pushed back due to a member of the defense’s medical emergency.
