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R Kelly could go to prison for decades for violating the US Anti-Sex Trading Act and other crimes.
Rhythm and blues superstar Kelly For decades, she was found guilty in a sex trafficking trial in the United States. She had previously evaded criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct against young women and children.
On Monday, a jury of seven men and five women ruled in the next day’s deliberations that the 54-year-old Kelly was guilty of all nine counts, including racketeering.
When the verdict was read in the Brooklyn Federal Court, Kelly was wearing black-rimmed glasses and a mask, his eyes drooping and motionless.
The prosecutor claimed that the entourage of the manager and assistant who helped Kelly meet the girls and kept them obedient and quiet constituted a criminal activity. In another federal case pending in Chicago, two people were charged with Kelly.
He faces the possibility of decades in jail for crimes, including violating the Mann Act, an anti-sex trade law that prohibits anyone from crossing state boundaries “for any immoral purpose”. The verdict is scheduled for May 4.
One of Kelly’s lawyers, Dvoro Cannick, said he was disappointed and wanted to appeal. Cannick said: “Considering all the inconsistencies, I think I am even more disappointed that the government filed a lawsuit in the first place.”
Several accusers testified in shocking details during the trial, claiming that Kelly had exposed them to improper and sadistic ideas when they were underage.
For many years, the public and the news media seemed to be more interested in allegations of improper relationship with minors, rather than shocked, starting with Kelly’s illegal marriage to R&B genius Aaliyah in 1994, when she was only 15 years old.
His records and concert tickets have been on sale. Other artists continued to record his songs, even after he was arrested in 2002 and accused of recording his sexual abuse and urination of a 14-year-old girl.
It wasn’t until a widely watched documentary called “Surviving R. Kelly” helped his case become a symbol of the #MeToo era that it caused widespread public condemnation. This gives the accusers the voice of those accusers who want to know whether their stories were previously ignored because they are black women.
On Monday, Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said: “For the victims in this case, your voices have been heard, and justice has finally been served.”
Some of Kelly’s accusers’ lawyers, Gloria Allred, stated outside the court that, of all the predators she pursued, “Mr. Kelly was the worst”—the list included Harvey Weinstein with Jeffrey Epstein.
During the trial, several of Kelly’s accusers did not use their real names to protect their privacy when they testified. The jurors watched Kelly’s self-made videos of participating in sexual acts, which the prosecutor said were not voluntary. The defense referred to the plaintiffs as “star chasers” and “stalkers”.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been sentenced to prison without bail since 2019. The New York case is only part of the legal risks facing the singer. He also pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota. The trial dates for these cases have not yet been determined.
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