Singer R. Kelly was found guilty of child pornography charges on Wednesday after a month-long trial in his hometown of Chicago.
The disgraced R&B star, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was acquitted on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice. He was already convicted of sex trafficking back in June, for which he faces 30 years in prison, and still faces additional charges. The charges he was convicted on carried a minimum of 10 years in prison, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The 55-year-old singer was convicted on 3 of 4 child porn counts and 3 counts of enticement of a minor. One of the victims, a 37-year-old woman who spoke out in court under the pseudonym “Jane” said she was sexually abused by R. Kelly when she was only 14 years old.
“Jane” told the court that R. Kelly became her godfather when she was 13.
A year later she became closer to the R&B singer and her parents allowed her to spend the night at his house. “They would pretty much drop me off and then leave,” Jane testified, according to CNN.
R. Kelly made videos of himself sexually abusing “Jane” while she was a minor.
Here’s what CNN reported:
Kelly was convicted of multiple child pornography charges at a Chicago federal trial and acquitted on others, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Kelly was convicted on three of four child pornography counts and acquitted on charges that he conspired to obstruct justice at his 2008 trial which stemmed from a 2002 state case.
He was also found guilty on three of five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s attorney, said her client had a “sense of relief” that this case is now behind him, and felt that prosecutors had overblown their case against him. Bonjean said she is considering filing an appeal.
Jurors deliberated for about 10 hours after listening to three weeks-worth of testimony, including from one woman who testified anonymously that Kelly sexually abused her and recorded the interactions when she was as young as 14.
The woman was one of five minors who prosecutors allege Kelly sexually abused in the late 1990s by making explicit videos with four of them.
The Associated Press report noted that with the combined convictions, the once legendary singer won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 80 years old.
The Daily Wire added:
Even as allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer began surfacing in the 1990s, he still sold millions of albums. But public support for the singer began to shift following the release of a 2019 Lifetime docuseries, titled “Surviving R. Kelly,” and after the #MeToo movement.
The singer’s legal troubles are not yet over. He still faces two further trials, one in Minnesota and another in state court in Chicago, the AP noted.
Watch the video report here: NBC News/Youtube
Sources: DailyWire, ChicagoTribune, USA Today, Associated Press, CNN
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