An R. Kelly assistant said one of his 18-year-old accusers should run and 'never come back,' text messages show

• A personal assistant of R. Kelly's testified Tuesday in the singer's sex crimes trial.
• She described how an 18-year-old "girlfriend" of Kelly's stayed on a bus overnight and "looked rough."
• "When she gets to Florida she should NEVER come back," the assistant wrote in a text message at the time.

A former assistant to R. Kelly testified Tuesday at the singer's sex crimes trial about her concern for his "girlfriends," reading a text message in which she'd said one 18-year-old should leave and "never come back."

The former personal assistant, Aliciette Mayweather, read to the jury from dozens of texts she sent to Kelly and other employees while she worked for the singer. On one occasion in May 2016, she supervised an 18-year-old "girlfriend" of Kelly's, identified as "Jane," who had slept overnight in a tour bus parked outside his Chicago music studio.

Mayweather texted another Kelly employee that Jane "looked rough" and that her eyes were "puffy," suggesting she go back to her home in Florida.

"When she gets to Florida she should NEVER come back," Mayweather wrote in the text message. "She should be living the life of a 18-year-old high school senior."

On Monday and Tuesday, Mayweather testified about working as an assistant for Kelly between December 2015 and June 2016. At times she worked in tandem with her twin sister, Suzette Mayweather, who testified earlier in the trial.

Prosecutors have accused Kelly of directing employees to procure women for sex, and then sexually abusing them. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his trial in Brooklyn federal court is in its fourth week of testimony.

The "Jane" who Aliciette Mayweather referred to on the stand testified earlier in the trial. She accused Kelly of perpetuating years of sexual and physical abuse, and described for jruors the bizarre and cult-like rules Kelly imposed on her - from dictating when she could go to the bathroom to forcing her to get an abortion.

Mayweather testified that she never personally saw Kelly assault or abuse anyone. But she described circumstances where younger women around Kelly appeared hurt.

Jane was close to graduating high school when Mayweather said she slept on the tour bus; Kelly was 49 at the time. It wasn't clear from Mayweather's testimony why Jane wasn't allowed to enter the Chicago studio, which had bedrooms.

"Something is REALLY strange about the behavior and treatment of the little one," Mayweather texted another employee. "The punishment is REAL."

Kelly's "punishment" may have extended to other women with whom the singer had closer relationships, Mayweather testified. She said Kelly told her he'd punished "Juice," another young woman in Kelly's orbit.

Suzette Mayweather previously testified that Juice was a family friend of Kelly's, and other accusers in the trial said Juice often led the way in bringing other women into sexual activities with the singer.

"Juice gets punished, too," Kelly told Mayweather, she testified.

In cross-examination, Kelly's lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, suggested that Jane had to stay on the tour bus in order to finish work she needed to graduate high school. He described it as a "luxury" bus, saying it had beds, a refrigerator, and a microwave. Cannick pointed out that Kelly himself would stay on the bus for long periods of time while traversing the country for concerts.

Mayweather disagreed with that characterization.

"I wouldn't call it luxury," she said.