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Essence.com sat down recently with Lisa Van Allen, a key witness in the prosecution's child pornography case against R. Kelly.
The jury returned a not guilty verdict on all 14 counts against the R&B star, despite testimony from Van Allen that she participated in sexual threesomes with Kelly and the underage girl at the center of the trial.
Van Allen, now 28, received immunity for her testimony and is speaking to Essence.com about her relationship with Kelly, the sex tape and why she came forward. Below is an excerpt of the Q&A:
Essence.com: What are your feelings about the verdict?
Lisa Van Allen: I'm not surprised. The evidence against him was there, but the case seemed to be going in the defense's favor. I never thought he would actually go to jail, just based on what I've seen happen with celebrities when they get in trouble. I thought he'd get a slap on the wrist, like, "Don't do it again." But I at least wanted him to be held responsible for what he had done.
Essence.com: How did you meet R. Kelly?
Van Allen: I met him in Alpharetta, Georgia, at the "Home Alone" video shoot, probably in '98. I was 17, and he was 31. I was fresh out of high school. My friend's girlfriend was going to the video shoot, and he didn't want her to go by herself. I just tagged along with her and ended up being an extra in it.
Essence.com: So how did you go from being an extra to meeting him personally?
Van Allen: He sent his cousin over to me. This guy told me his cousin wanted to talk to me. I asked him who his cousin was, and he said, "R. Kelly." I said, "Okay," and he arranged for me to be taken back to his trailer. In between the scenes, he came back to the trailer and talked to me. I was very flattered. Out of all the girls at the video shoot, he picked me out of everybody to talk to. We ended up having intercourse.
Essence.com: You had sex with him in the trailer that same day?
Van Allen: Yes. He started with a kiss, and from there we leaned back, and I just didn't stop him. I was kind of worried that he wouldn't want to see me again after that, but I wasn't worried about the actual act at that time because I was just honored that he picked me. Being a young girl, I was like, "Wow." I wasn't thinking as a woman would. Now that I'm older, things are different. I would never go that route today. As a child, you don't make all the right decisions. That's why young girls shouldn't be involved with grown men.
Essence.com: So do you feel like he seduced you?
Van Allen: No, I don't feel like he seduced me. He was just being really nice, and I was basically going along with whatever he wanted to do. We didn't talk about much. He was just asking me my name and how old I was. When I said my age, he asked me if my mom would let me come to Chicago and visit. I told him, "Yeah."
Essence.com: How did your relationship with R. Kelly evolve from there?
Van Allen: I actually didn't call him for about a month, because I didn't know what to say to him. When I did finally call him, he got straight to the point and said, "When can you come up here?" I visited him maybe twice in Chicago before I moved there. He would tell me, "Don't leave yet; I want to talk to you." I kept missing my flights back home and missed days from my job at the mall. So I ended up quitting my job and moved to Chicago.
Essence.com: Where did you live?
Van Allen: I stayed at the studio the majority of the time, but I also had a hotel room. He was always at the studio. He had closets full of clothes there, a bed, a refrigerator, a big-screen TV, a shower, the whole works. You would think it was a mini apartment.
Essence.com: Did you feel emotionally connected with him, or was it mostly a sexual relationship?
Van Allen: I thought we were really good friends and were really close. Once I moved up there, we did everything together. He'd be in the studio recording; I'd be there. He'd go to video shoots; I'd be there. He even went to get a colon cleanse, and I went with him. It wasn't only sexual, but sex was a major part.
Essence.com: Was he very controlling when it came to sex?
Van Allen: Yeah. He would always tell you what to do. You'd come into a situation where he'd want to have sex, and he'd coach you through the whole thing. He'd tell you which way to lie, which way to turn, what noises to make, how loud to moan, how to roll your body around. It was weird, but being that I was so young I still didn't know what was the right way to do things sexually. I was still learning. He was a man, so I just followed his lead. I figured he knew more about this stuff, and that this is how it's supposed to go.
Essence.com: One of the more appalling aspects of the tape at the center of the trial is that the man peed on the girl in the video. Is that something R. Kelly did with you?
Van Allen: No, he never asked me to do that. We had never had a conversation about it, and he never tried to do that with me.
