Fallen R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for using his fame to subject young fans — some just children — to systematic sexual abuse.

Through tears and anger, several of Kelly’s accusers told a court, and him, that he had preyed on them and misled his fans.

“You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” said one unnamed survivor, directly addressing a Kelly who kept his hands folded and his eyes downcast.

“Do you remember that?” she added.

Kelly, 55, didn’t speak at his sentencing, where he also was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. The Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer and songwriter was convicted last year of racketeering and sex trafficking at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had previously wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were Black women.

“Although sex was certainly a weapon that you used, this is not a case about sex. It’s a case about violence, cruelty and control,” U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly told him.

The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

Kelly’s lawyers had argued he should get no more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.”

As an adult with “literacy deficiencies,” the star was “repeatedly defrauded and financially abused, often by the people he paid to protect him,” his lawyers said.

The hitmaker is known for work including the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and the cult classic “Trapped in the Closet,” a multi-part tale of sexual betrayal and intrigue.

Allegations that Kelly abused young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s. He was sued in 1997 by a woman who alleged sexual battery and sexual harassment while she was a minor, and he later faced criminal child pornography charges related to a different girl in Chicago. A jury there acquitted him in 2008, and he settled the lawsuit.

All the while, Kelly continued to sell millions of albums.

The Brooklyn federal court jury convicted him after hearing that he used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal enterprise.

Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, used his “fame, money and popularity” to systematically “prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing earlier this month.

Several accusers testified that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.

The accusers alleged they were ordered to sign nondisclosure forms and were subjected to threats and punishments such as violent spankings if they broke what one referred to as “Rob’s rules.”

Some said they believed the videotapes he shot of them having sex would be used against them if they exposed what was happening.

According to testimony, Kelly gave several accusers herpes without disclosing he had an STD, coerced a teenage boy to join him for sex with a naked girl who emerged from underneath a boxing ring in his garage, and shot a shaming video that showed one victim smearing feces on her face as punishment for breaking his rules.

Kelly has denied any wrongdoing. He didn’t testify at his trial, but his then-lawyers portrayed his accusers as girlfriends and groupies who weren’t forced to do anything against their will and stayed with him because they enjoyed the perks of his lifestyle.

Evidence also was presented about a fraudulent marriage scheme hatched to protect Kelly after he feared he had impregnated R&B phenom Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15. Witnesses said they were married in matching jogging suits using a license falsely listing her age as 18; he was 27 at the time.

Aaliyah worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” She died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

An earlier defense memo suggested prosecutors’ arguments for a higher sentence overreached by falsely claiming Kelly participated in the paying of a bribe to a government official in order to facilitate the illegal marriage.

The Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused, unless they come forward publicly. The women who spoke at Kelly’s sentencing were identified only by first names or pseudonyms.

Kelly has been jailed without bail since in 2019. He’s still facing child pornography and obstruction of justice charges in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 15.

SOURCE


Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/6774781/r-kelly-found-guilty-sex#106231287

He’s still facing child pornography and obstruction of justice charges...

After everything he achieved,na children yansh dey hungry am...

What a pity... Enjoy your jail term...

Dem still Dey treat this man case since no mess with yankees dem go do u dirty big time

The Pied Piper of R&B

Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Mike Tyson, Arsenio Hall, Wesley Snipes, Tiger Woods, Tim Montgomery, Eazy E, 2Pac, BIG...

Next on the list; Floyd Mayweather, Will Smith, Usain Bolt, Anthony Joshua, Dave Chappelle, Jay Z, Diddy, Kanye West, Kevin Hart, Tyler Perry...


Every successful black man is eventually put down after making enough money for his corporate White slavemasters.

Know this and know peace.

So na woman end this man career and life, that shows how powerful a woman is, so sad

R celly

Omooh....


Na till tomorrow be that ooo..

This is pretty pathetic. Your music career has finally come to an end -king of R&B.

See where his third leg led him

Nothing beats discipline and self control.

He was one of the best R&B singers in the world, but see how he wasted himself because he wouldn't control his 3rd leg.

During the peak of his career he was struggling with court cases, of child pornography, having sex with underaged girls...etc. now he's totally finished.

A big set up for him

fergie001:
SOURCE

Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/6774781/r-kelly-found-guilty-sex#106231287

SAMBARRY:
Haaa.they Sha want to destroy this man.i don't even believe the allegations levelled against him in the first place

DESERVES it…
But what a WASTE of a prodigious talent!
>

[img]https://giffiles./216/216405.gif[/img]

Dbull on this one!!!




Damn 30 years plus his age, that's how this music talent just go chaii, I will try and fill his shoes!

Kels!

SAMBARRY:
Haaa.they Sha want to destroy this man.i don't even believe the allegations levelled against him in the first place

He's my favorite RnB singer of all time but he's promiscuous

I wish, i wish i wish.

Haaa.they Sha want to destroy this man.i don't even believe the allegations levelled against him in the first place.i suspect it's because he didn't join their "cult" plus him being a black man.theyre like how dare a black man make it without us.

Secondly since the period they've been setting traps for him and waylaying him,he shouldn't have allowed any little girl stay with him.if they wanted to learn music under him they should have been coming from Their parents house because yorubas will say they can't label you a thief and still be seen with the goat of a neighbour.someone like Kelly shouldn't be seen around little girls or boys then they will have nothing on him

That industry is too Dark,evil and mysterious.its way beyond what you see on tv or magazines.theyre into the occult

What? Will he get out of the prison alive?

One of my worst fears in life...!

Chai. It's a pity

Na kill una don kill Kelly na. A story of grace to grass. May this never be our portion.

Ok

R

Oga ekeremadu, you dey see so?
No be naija of do you know who I am

Christianity and crime

Which kin Fiesta be this.
This same crime he committed is now rife. They don't take this crime serious in some countries because politicians and celebs are into it.

How come this man is breathing



Men are the major issue this our peaceful world got. They need to be wipe clean

wattaa hell!

Free him joor

I thought they had sentenced this guy since now