*A 10-year-old boy who walked in on the alleged rape of his sister by the brother of Nicki Minaj has testified that he knew what he had witnessed “wasn’t right,” but was threatened to keep his mouth shut, according to the New York Post.
The young witness, sporting a black tuxedo and clutching a yellow star-shaped toy, gave testimony in Jelani Maraj’s rape trial in Nassau County Supreme Court on Monday. As his family members quietly shed tears in the gallery, according to the Post, the boy told jurors in detail what he saw in a basement bedroom in 2015.
Via New York Post:
“What happened was I was looking for [her],” the boy said, referring to his then-11-year-old sister, who has accused Maraj, their stepdad, of repeatedly raping her. “My pencil broke and I didn’t have any others.”
The boy, who was 8 at the time, said his sister’s pants were “around her ankles.”
“I saw his underwear close to his knees,” he testified about Maraj.
Asked by prosecutors what happened next, he quietly said, “I thought it wasn’t right. It looked weird to me, so I ran upstairs.”
Maraj, the boy testified, later found him and slapped him in the face “about 10 times.”
“He asked me if I had seen anything. I said, ‘Yes,’ ” the boy said. “He slapped me on the cheek.”
Maraj then allegedly used the boy’s mother, Jacqueline Robinson, to threaten the boy into silence. At the time, Maraj was married to Robinson.
“Jelani said I wouldn’t see her again if I told on him,” he said. “His face was kind of mad.”
The boy, whose bedroom was next to his sister’s, also told jurors he’d sometimes hear his door suddenly close at night — and then his sister’s bed creaking.
Defense lawyer David Schwartz tried to poke holes in the little boy’s testimony by getting him to admit the lights were off when he walked in on the alleged rape.
“You would agree that when the light is not on, the room is very dark?” Schwartz asked.
“Yes,” the boy answered.
Prosecutors allege Maraj had sex with the young girl, now 14, as often as four times a week. A doctor testified last week that the girl’s medical records strongly suggest she was having sex.
“I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that [the girl’s] medical exam can prove penetration,” said Dr. Aaron Miller after reviewing photos.
Prosecutors said Maraj’s DNA was found on a pair of the girl’s pajama pants.
The defense has claimed the allegations were concocted by Robinson in a $25 million extortion plot against Minaj, who is expected to testify on her sibling’s behalf. Minaj posted her brother’s $100,000 bond when he was arrested in December 2015.
