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Singer R.kelly Sentenced To 30years Imprisonment For Sex Abuse by Johnlegacy57: 11:59am On Jun 30, 2022 |
US singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30
years in prison for using his celebrity status to
sexually abuse children and women.
The R&B artist, 55, was convicted last
September in New York of racketeering and sex
trafficking crimes.
He had faced years of allegations and the judge
on Wednesday said he had an "indifference to
human suffering".
Lawyers for the singer, whose real name is
Robert Sylvester Kelly, say he will appeal.
Ahead of his sentencing, a handful of women
took the stand to confront Kelly.
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.
"I literally wished I would die because of how
you made me feel," said one.
Dressed in prison khakis and dark glasses, Kelly
declined to make a statement of his own and did
not react as the verdict was handed down.
The history of allegations against R. Kelly
The testimony that convicted R. Kelly
R. Kelly trial: A look at the key moments
US District Judge Ann Donnelly said the celebrity
had used sex as a weapon, forcing his victims to
do unspeakable things and saddling some with
sexually transmitted diseases.
"You taught them that love is enslavement and
violence," she said.
The court heard how Kelly - known for hit songs
like I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition - used his
influence to lure women and children into sexual
abuse over two decades.
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.
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.
The certificate, leaked at the time, listed
Aaliyah's age as 18. The marriage was annulled
months later.
Jovante Cunningham, a former backup singer for
Kelly, said she never believed this day would
come.
"There wasn't a day in my life up until this
moment that I actually believed that the judicial
system would come through for black and brown
girls," she told reporters.
"I stand here very proud of my judicial system,
very proud of my fellow survivors and very
pleased with the outcome."
Watch: R. Kelly survivor makes tearful
statement outside New York court following his
sentencing
Federal prosecutors had recommended that 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".
But his lawyers called for a sentence of 10 years
- the mandatory minimum for his conviction - or
less.
They portrayed Kelly as growing up poor in a
household rife with domestic violence and
suffering sexual abuse from a young age.
They said he was "devastated" by the sentence
and planned to appeal.
Lizzette Martinez, who met Kelly when she was
17, said that there were "so many things he
could have done to stop himself."
"He had all the resources; we don't have
resources like that. He could have gotten help,"
she told BBC News.
She said he avoided justice for years due to the
"power of celebrity".
"I believe that he was just making so much
money for so many powerful people that they
protected him."
Kelly has been in custody since he was indicted
by federal prosecutors in New York and Chicago
in July 2019.
His three years behind bars have been eventful,
including a beating from a fellow inmate in 2020
and a bout with Covid-19 earlier this year.
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.
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Re: Singer R.kelly Sentenced To 30years Imprisonment For Sex Abuse by Mynd44: 2:10pm On Jun 30, 2022 |
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