The recently married brother of rapper Nicki Minaj has been charged
with raping a child on Long Island.Jelani Maraj, 37, was arraigned Thursday on a first-degree rape
charge and freed from a Nassau County jail on $100,000 bail.
Nassau County prosecutors say Maraj engaged in intercourse with a
child under the age of 13 at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 30.
“The
victim was someone he had access to,” a source close to the case
said.Maraj lives with his wife Jaqueline in a two-story home in Baldwin.
The pair is raising two children a girl about 12 years old and an
8-year-old boy, neighbors said.
It’s not clear if the kids are Jelani Maraj’s biological children
or step-children.Newsday
reported that Maraj’s victim was a 12-year-old girl.
Jaqueline Maraj ignored questions as she left her home with a
young boy and hopped in a maroon minivan.Neighbors said they were stunned by the charges."I was shocked!” a 73-year-old neighbor told the Daily
News. “I was upstairs in the office. “My wife called and she
says, ‘You'll never believe what I just heard on the news.”“They're very friendly, always call me by my name and wave to me,” the neighbor added. “Nothing unusual. No rowdiness. No noise.”Maraj is due back in court on Dec. 9.
In a creepy twist, among the “likes” listed on a Twitter page belonging to a Jelani Maraj is a news story about William James Vahey, a child predator who killed himself in March 2014.
Minaj, one of hip-hop’s biggest stars, ponied up about $30,000 for her brother’s wedding at the Coral House in Baldwin in late August. “I love my brother so much man. Can't believe I cried during his wedding and his first dance like a punk,” Minaj, 32,wrote on Instagram at the time, next to a photo of her standing alongside her brother.
“May God bless him and his union,” she added. “Tonight has been one of my favorite nights of all time. I do anything to see my brothers smile.”
