R. KELLY CHILD PORNOGRAPHY TRIAL JURORS SELECTED

Jury selections are underway after 6 years as 8 jurors have been selected for the R. Kelly child pornography trial.  The 41 year-old R&B singer appeared at a courthouse to face child pornography charges filed after a videotape surfaced in 2002 allegedly showing him having sex with a girl as young as 13. Attorneys and a judge began questioning 150 potential jurors in Chicago on Monday. Click here to learn more about the trial.

Comedian Dave Chappelle performed a parody of R. Kelly on the Chappelle Show. Watch Dave Chappelle's remix R. Kelly Pee On You. 

So far 8 jurors (5 men, 3 women/split evenly with black & white members) were selected. The 5 jurors chosen today include a teacher's assistant, a married man in his 40s, a criminal justice student, an investment firm compliance officer and a man with prior jury experience. The 3 people which were selected on Monday were an executive with young children, a pastor's wife and a self-described Christian.

The 41-year-old Chicago R&B superstar is charged with 14 counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a girl as young as 13.   R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years in prison, a $100,000 fine and would have to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The selection process is difficult because potential jurors may have previous knowledge of the allegations and may have formed an opinion about R. Kelly based on press coverage of the long-delayed trial.  In order to weed out those who may not be impartial, questions about race, money and pornography were asked.

Prosecutors will face quite a few challenges when the trial begins. The girl believed to be on the videotape, who is now 23, says it wasn't her a R. Kelly's lawyers haven't conceded it's Kelly in the video.

Court proceedings will pick-up where they left off on Wednesday.  The lawyers will select a total of 16 panelists-- 12 jurors and 4 alternates with the selection expected to take a week. (source)