A woman who settled out of court with troubled singer R. Kelly is breaking her nondisclosure agreement to tell her story.
Jerhonda Pace, 24, came forward after the 50-year-old singer/songwriter was hit by recent allegations that he is keeping a harem of women as part of a sex cult at properties he owns and rents in Atlanta and Chicago, Illinois.
BuzzFeed blog which originally broke the story published another report in which Pace claims she was sexually and physically abused by R. Kelly when she was only 16.
Pace claims she met the singer when she was 15. She attended his child pornography trial in 2008 in Chicago. He was acquitted and she allegedly began a relationship with him.
The age of consent in Illinois is 17. Pace said she told Kelly she was 16 but he allegedly told her to lie about her age and tell people she was 19.
Pace claims she was sexually intimate with the father-of-3 for eight months. She said he physically abused her after he caught her texting a friend in 2010. She claims Kelly micromanaged her life, telling her when to use the restroom, shower and eat at Kelly’s Olympia Fields, Illinois, home.
Pace claims Kelly choked, slapped and spit on her, after which time she decided to end the relationship.
She said she contacted Chicago attorney Susan E. Loggans, who reportedly reached a settlement with Kelly on behalf of Pace.
Pace, who is now a wife and mother, admitted that by coming forward she is breaking a nondisclosure agreement that was part of the settlement.
She said she is speaking out to try and help the women who are under Kelly’s spell.
“If I can speak out and I can help them get out of that situation, that’s what I will do,” she said. “He’s brainwashed them really bad, and it kind of reminds me of Charles Manson. I just really hope I can help these women out. Kelly needs to be stopped.”
Nondisclosure agreements are legally binding and violating one is considered a breach of contract depending on individual state laws. Violating such an agreement usually results in a judge ordering the person to pay back the settlement money.
