Crime
R. Kelly Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking
In September, a jury in New York convicted the R&B artist, 55, of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes.
A US Singer Robert Sylvester Kelly, also known as R. Kelly, has been sentenced to prison for 30 years for sex trafficking, and sexual exploitation of a child.
In September, a jury in New York convicted the R&B artist, 55, of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes.
A woman identified only as Angela called the singer a Pied Piper who “grew in wickedness” with every new victim, while others who were not named testified he had broken their spirits.
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“I literally wished I would die because of how you made me feel,” said one.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly said the celebrity had used sex as a weapon, forcing his victims to do unspeakable things and saddling them with incurable diseases.
“You taught them that love is enslavement and violence,” she said.
Jurors at his six-week trial in Brooklyn heard how he trafficked women between different US states, assisted by managers, security guards and other members of his entourage.
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The court also heard how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 in 1994, seven years before the singer died in a plane crash.
They portrayed Kelly as growing up poor in a household rife with domestic violence and suffering sexual abuse from a young age.
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Kelly has been in custody since he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York and Chicago in July 2019.
The singer faces further legal action in August, when he goes on trial again, this time in Chicago on child sex images and obstruction charges.
He is also due to face sex abuse charges in courts in Illinois and Minnesota.