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Child Witness Takes The Stand In Jelani Maraj Rape Case

The younger brother of the girl who accused Nicki Minaj’s brother of repeatedly sexually assaulting her recalled the time he said he caught the man in the act of abusing the tween.

The boy, who BOSSIP is not identifying, described walking in on Jelani Maraj raping his then-11-year-old sister in August 2015, just weeks before Maraj’s wedding to their mother.

The child said he was looking for his sister in the house they all shared because he wanted her to get him a pencil. He said he looked all over the house, and checked a spare bedroom, where the door was closed and the lights were off.

“It happened in Kelly’s room,” the boy, dressed in black suit with a bow tie, told the jury Monday at Nassau Criminal Court in Long Island, NY.

He later showed the jury a picture he drew of what he said he saw: his sister bent over, her head against the bed, and Maraj directly behind her.

Nicki Minaj’s brother Jelani Maraj in 2016, left, and Oct. 2017, right. Photo by Jennifer H. Cunningham

The boy – who referred to Maraj at times as “my dad” – said the man later cowed him into silence, slapping him in the face and threatening to put him and his sister in foster care.

The boy later told caseworkers that his sister was being abused, launching an investigation that eventually led to Maraj’s sex abuse charges.

The alleged victim told police that Maraj began raping her up to four times a week over a period of eight months in 2015 when his relationship her mother started to sour.

Maraj’s defense has argued that the rape allegations were false and borne out of a plot to extort Nicki Minaj and her brother for $25 million.

Maraj’s lawyer David Schwartz questioned the child over why he didn’t tell anyone about the alleged abuse for months and drew attention to inconsistencies between what the boy told police and caseworkers and his comments on the stand.

Under cross-examination, the boy admitted he and his sister were excited to become officially related to Nicki Minaj, and sometimes would stare at her when they spent time together at the Long Island home of Nicki’s mom Carol.

Schwartz asked the boy if he knew anything about his mother being jealous of not being able to spend Christmas with Jelani and Nicki Minaj in Los Angeles, and whether recalled his mother talking about a “lawsuit” or a “settlement” with Maraj around the time he reported the alleged abuse.

“Did you ever see your mom reach out to Nicki during that period of time in November, 2015?” Schwartz asked.

“She didn’t talk to her,” the child responded.

The trial continues Tuesday with a DNA expert taking the stand.

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