Jaqueline Robinson thought she had a beautiful blended family when she married superstar Nicki Minaj‘s older brother Jelani Maraj, 38, only to be devastated when she found out that he was allegedly sexually abusing her 11-year-old daughter. “I used to call us the black Brady Bunch,” Robinson told jurors in his rape case in a Nassau County Court on Oct. 26. “We blended our family. I loved him. Finding out about these accusations – it hurt,” she said tearfully. Maraj is on trial for allegedly raping the girl up to four times a week in the months before his Dec. 1, 2015 arrest.
Robinson and Maraj wed in Aug. 2015 in a ceremony followed by a honeymoon that the “No Frauds” rapper paid for. It was four months into their marriage when the shocking rape allegations came about. She testified that she had noticed that her daughter had become shockingly withdrawn in the months leading up to the ceremony, but the little girl never told her mom anything about abuse. “I would ask her what was wrong. She would just put her head down,” the 45-year-old told prosecutors on Oct. 25. She testified that her daughter, who was a sixth-grade honor roll student, become “very distant and quiet.” See pics of Nicki and her brother, here.
Prosecutors allege that that for eight months until his arrest, Maraj made his stepdaughter an “indentured sexual object,” forced to have sex with him up to four times a week. He faces up to life in prison if jurors convict him of predatory sexual assault on a child. His arrest came after Robinson’s then eight-year-old son told a child protection worker that he walked into a bedroom and saw the man’s “private parts” touching his sister, who finally revealed the abuse to case workers. “I went into a room where I met (a case worker) and a child advocate. They told me …” Robinson testified as she broked down in tears. The devastated mom also testified that Maraj became infuriated when he learned of the child services call. Robinson claims he screamed at her daughter after picking her up from school. “He came in and he was yelling at her, asking her, ‘What did you say?'” she recalled.
An expert has already testified that DNA found on the girl’s pajamas at the time was a 1 in 291 billion match to Maraj. However, Nicki’s bro claims that his ex just wants to “shake down” the family for millions through the sexual abuse allegations, something Robinson vehemently denied on the stand.
HollywoodLifers, do you think Nicki’s brother could end up going to prison?