In a two-decade racketeering conspiracy, R. Kelly was a "predator" who required total devotion from the numerous women and underage girls he dominated, a federal prosecutor said on Wednesday as the R&B star's sex abuse trial started.

Kelly's defense team responded that the government's evidence had "gaps" and that the 54-year-old singer's accusers were enraged former admirers seeking retribution for failed relationships.

Kelly used "lies, manipulation, threats, and physical abuse" to manipulate his victims, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez, who told the Brooklyn jury of seven men and five women in her opening statement.

Kelly's alleged interactions with six women and girls, four of whom were minors at the time, are detailed in the indictment. Among them is the late singer Aaliyah, who married Kelly when she was 15 years old.

Melendez explained, “This case is about a predator.” “This is not a case about a celebrity who enjoys a lot of drinking.”

Nicole Blank Becker, Kelly's lawyer, dismissed the prosecutors' accusations, claiming the victims' interactions with Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, were voluntary.

Becker stated, "They knew exactly what they were getting into."

Kelly, a three-time Grammy winner whose hits include "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Bump N' Grind," has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that includes bribery and extortion allegations. He has categorically denied any misconduct.

Kelly allegedly employed an entourage of managers, bodyguards, and others to recruit victims, threatening to blackmail them if they escaped, according to prosecutors.

Jerhonda Pace, the first prosecution witness, said that she was formerly a Kelly admirer. She further claimed that at his request, she got his name tattooed on her left breast.

Kelly demanded she call him "Daddy" and ask his permission to go to the restroom, according to Pace, and their relationship ended when he choked her until she passed out.

Pace, who was identified in the indictment as Jane Doe No. 4, claimed Kelly knew she was 16 when they had intercourse because she had showed him identification, but that he urged her to pretend she was 19.

Pace, who is now married and expecting her fifth child, stated, "He told me he was going to train me to please him sexually."

Pace reportedly claimed Kelly gave her herpes, despite prosecutors' claims that DNA evidence from a garment she wore matched his.

“It's covered up with a black heart,” Pace responded when asked if she still had the tattoo.

On Thursday, Pace's testimony will resume. Other female accusers, as well as at least one male complainant, are likely to testify for the government, some using their first names only.

Years of unfounded suspicions

The study has been postponed many times due to the coronavirus epidemic and will run roughly a month.

It comes almost four years after the #MeToo movement began, and it is the culmination of years of suspicions and claims against Kelly, many of which were detailed in the 2019 Lifetime documentary "Surviving R. Kelly."

Kelly has been in prison for more than two years and, if convicted, could face decades in prison.

He still faces sex-related allegations in Illinois and Minnesota, where he has also pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors will try to prove that in 1994, Kelly paid an Illinois official to get a phony ID for Aaliyah, who is Jane Doe No. 1 in the indictment and whose marriage certificate shows her age as 18, so that they could marry.

Kelly believed he had pregnant Aaliyah and hoped that marrying her would prevent her from having to testify against him, according to authorities. Aaliyah died in an aircraft crash in 2001.

The indictment includes eight charges alleging breaches of the federal Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transfer individuals for prostitution over state boundaries.

Other well-known persons convicted under the statute include rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Charlie Chaplin, an actor, and director was acquitted of the allegation.

Kelly was found not guilty of child pornography charges in an Illinois courtroom in 2008.

In 2016, he published his most recent studio album. Following the Lifetime documentary and the current allegations, Kelly's career came to a halt.