Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, 55, has been sentence to 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually abusing women, as well as boys and girls, for decades. The former 90s star, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been branded a “predator”.
Kelly was convicted by a federal jury in New York in September last year, where he was branded a “predator” who used his fame and fortune to “prey on the young, the vulnerable, and the voiceless for his own sexual gratification” following his conviction.
He was convicted on multiple counts of racketeering, with the charges relating to bribery and forced labour.
Kelly was found in violation of an anti-sex trafficking law known as the Mann Act, and was found guilty on all nine counts against him.
The singer denied all charges at his six-week trial in Brooklyn, New York, but now faces the prospect of decades behind bars, reports The Mirror.
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Kelly’s lawyers say he will appeal, while survivors spoke today about how he had degraded and humiliated them.
A number of women took to the stand to confront Kelly over decades of abuse as the trial unfolded.
One woman, who was a victim, called him the “pied piper” who “grew in wickedness” with every new victim.
Another who testified said: “I literally wished I would die because of how you made me feel.”
The court also heard how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 in 1994.
The certificate listed Aaliyah’s age as 18 and the marriage was annulled months later, seven years before the singer died in a terrible plane crash.
Federal prosecutors recommended Kelly be sentenced to more than 25 years in prison, given the seriousness of his crimes and “the need to protect the public from further crimes”.
His lawyers called for a sentence of 10 years – the mandatory minimum for his conviction – or less, but this request was not met.
