Nicki Minaj made a visit to see her brother, Jelani Maraj, who is currently serving time at Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, New York, TMZ reports.
According to the site, the 34-year-old rapper only went to the facility to support her mom, Carol, who hadn’t seen Maraj, 38, since he was found guilty on Thursday, November 9, of raping an 11-year-old girl.
As previously reported, jurors convicted Maraj on a felony charge of predatory sexual assault on a child and endangering the welfare of a child. Maraj reportedly showed no emotion when the verdict was read. He is currently facing 25 years to life behind bars but plans to appeal, according to his lawyer David Schwartz.
The girl, now 14, testified that her then-stepfather Maraj repeatedly sexually assaulted her while her mother was at work between April and November 2015. The defense claimed that the allegations were fabricated in an attempt to extort $25 million from Maraj’s famous sister, although his ex-wife denied this.
According to Newsday, the girl’s brother, now 10, also testified, claiming he once saw Maraj’s “private parts” touching his sister. The boy reportedly told jurors that Maraj allegedly slapped him several times across the face after the incident and told him he would never see his mother again if he repeated what he had witnessed.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence supported the allegations. A scientist testified that a stain on a pair of the victim’s pajama pants contained semen that was a one in 291 billion match to Maraj, but the defense argued that the pants may have been cross-contaminated with other laundry.
Minaj, 34, did not testify and has yet to address her brother’s conviction.
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