Singer R Kelly Jailed To 30 Years In Prison Over Sex Crimes
Singer R Kelly has been sentenced to jail for 30 years over the serious sexual crimes like child pornography, sex trafficking, racketering and abusing girls & women.
R Kelly is jailed to 30 years in jail on Wednesday, following his conviction for using his celebrity and fortune to entice women and young girls into his entourage for sex over a decade.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued the punishment in federal court in Brooklyn.
Following a 5-1/2 week trial that heightened charges that had followed the singer of the Grammy-winning single “I Believe I Can Fly” since the early 2000s, Kelly, 55, was found guilty last September.
He is one of the most well-known figures to have been found guilty of sexual misconduct amid the #MeToo campaign against similar behavior by well-known males.
Earlier on Wednesday, a number of women who had testified against Kelly in the case discussed how he had offered to mentor them and assist them in becoming famous, only to force them to demeaning sexual behavior and physical trauma.
Many claimed that the abuse was the cause of ongoing mental health issues.
Jane Doe No. 2 identified the lady as saying, “As a teenager, I didn’t know how to say no to R Kelly when he urged me to engage in oral sex with him.”
After pausing briefly, she turned to Kelly and questioned, “Do you remember that?”
Robert Sylvester Kelly, who goes as Kelly, has consistently refuted claims of sexual abuse. At the hearing on Wednesday, he was dressed in beige prison garb and a black face mask.
Eight counts of Mann Act violations and one allegation of extortion were among the nine criminal charges on which Kelly was found guilty. The Mann Act forbids moving persons between states for prostitution.
In its request for a prison term of even more than 25 years, the prosecution argued that Kelly had exhibited “callous disdain” for his victims and no remorse.
Kelly’s defense attorneys claimed that he should serve no more than 10 years, the legal minimum, and that he no longer presented a threat because his background of abuse as a child may have contributed to his adult hypersexuality.
Since July of 2019, Kelly has been held in custody. He will most certainly be brought soon to a jail in Chicago where he will stand trial in federal court in August on accusations of obstruction and child pornography.
In Illinois and Minnesota, he is also charged with a number of state crimes.