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NEW YORK: Disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for using his fame to sexually abuse young fans, including some who were children, in a systematic scheme that has lasted for decades.
In tears and anger, several of Kelly’s accusers told a New York City court and the singer himself that he misled and exploited them.
“You made me do things that broke my courage. I literally wish I was dying because I was feeling so down,” said one unnamed survivor, addressing Kelly directly, who kept his hands clasped and his eyes downcast.
“Do you remember that?” She asked.
Kelly, 55, offered no explanation and showed no reaction when he heard his sentence, which also included a $100,000 fine. He has denied wrongdoing and plans to appeal his conviction.
The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songwriter was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in a trial last year that saw accusers who previously wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were black women.
Victims “are not the exploited individuals we used to be,” said another of his accusers at the sentencing hearing.
“Up until that moment, there wasn’t a day in my life that I really believed that the justice system for black and brown girls would work,” she added in court.
A third woman, who spoke in court sobbing and sniffling, also said Kelly’s conviction renewed her confidence in the justice system.
The woman said Kelly bullied her after she went to a concert when she was 17.
“I was scared, naive and didn’t know how to handle the situation,” she said, so she didn’t say anything at the time.
“Silence,” she said, “is a very lonely place.”
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer BonjeanHe said he was “devastated” by the verdict and saddened by what he heard.
“He’s human. He feels what others feel. But that doesn’t mean he can take on the responsibilities the government and others expect of him. Because he doesn’t agree with the characterizations that have been made about him,” she said.
The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who is known for works like 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.
He was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations of his abusing young girls became public in the 1990s. He beat the child pornography charges in Chicago in 2008 when a jury acquitted him.
Widespread outrage over Kelly’s sexual misconduct only surfaced with the #MeToo reckoning and peaked after the release of the documentary Surviving R. Kelly.
“I hope this conviction serves as a testament in its own right that no matter how powerful, rich or famous your abuser is, or how small you feel, the judiciary only hears the truth,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, on Wednesday.
A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, after hearing he used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation prosecutors say is a criminal enterprise equaled.
Several accusers testified that Kelly subjected her to perverse and sadistic whims when she was a minor.
Prosecutors said they were ordered to sign non-disclosure agreements and faced threats and penalties such as violent beatings if they violated the so-called “Robs Rules”.
Some said they believed the videotapes he recorded of them having sex would be used against them if they exposed what happened.
According to witnesses, Kelly gave several accusers herpes without disclosing that he had an STD, forced a teenager to have sex with him with a naked girl who emerged from under a boxing ring in his garage, and filmed a shameful video that a smearing victim showed feces on her face as punishment for breaking his rules.
“The horrors your victims endured,” said US District Judge Ann Donnelly in sentencing him. “No price was too high for your happiness.”
Lizzette Martinez was a 17-year-old aspiring singer when she met Kelly at a Florida mall. She was promised mentorship, but quickly ended up as a “sex slave,” she told the court on Wednesday.
When asked if Kelly’s 30-year sentence was sufficient punishment, she paused before answering.
“I personally don’t think it’s enough,” she said, “but I’m happy with it.”
Also presented during the trial was evidence of a fraudulent marriage scheme hatched to protect Kelly after he feared he had impregnated R&B phenomenon Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15 like she was 18; he was 27 then.
Aaliyah collaborated with Kelly who wrote and produced her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number in 1994. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22.
Kelly did not testify at his trial, but his attorneys at the time portrayed his accusers as girlfriends and groupies who had nothing to do against their will and stayed with him because they enjoyed the perks of his lifestyle.
His current attorneys had argued that he shouldn’t get more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “which was associated with severe, prolonged sexual abuse, poverty and childhood violence.”
As an adult with “dyslexia and dyslexia,” the star was “repeatedly conned and financially abused, often by people he paid to protect him,” his attorneys said.
The Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused unless they come forward publicly, as Martinez did. Several women who spoke at Kelly’s sentencing were identified only by their first names or pseudonyms.
Kelly has been detained without bail since 2019. He still faces charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin August 15.
In tears and anger, several of Kelly’s accusers told a New York City court and the singer himself that he misled and exploited them.
“You made me do things that broke my courage. I literally wish I was dying because I was feeling so down,” said one unnamed survivor, addressing Kelly directly, who kept his hands clasped and his eyes downcast.
“Do you remember that?” She asked.
Kelly, 55, offered no explanation and showed no reaction when he heard his sentence, which also included a $100,000 fine. He has denied wrongdoing and plans to appeal his conviction.
The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songwriter was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in a trial last year that saw accusers who previously wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were black women.
Victims “are not the exploited individuals we used to be,” said another of his accusers at the sentencing hearing.
“Up until that moment, there wasn’t a day in my life that I really believed that the justice system for black and brown girls would work,” she added in court.
A third woman, who spoke in court sobbing and sniffling, also said Kelly’s conviction renewed her confidence in the justice system.
The woman said Kelly bullied her after she went to a concert when she was 17.
“I was scared, naive and didn’t know how to handle the situation,” she said, so she didn’t say anything at the time.
“Silence,” she said, “is a very lonely place.”
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer BonjeanHe said he was “devastated” by the verdict and saddened by what he heard.
“He’s human. He feels what others feel. But that doesn’t mean he can take on the responsibilities the government and others expect of him. Because he doesn’t agree with the characterizations that have been made about him,” she said.
The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who is known for works like 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.
He was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations of his abusing young girls became public in the 1990s. He beat the child pornography charges in Chicago in 2008 when a jury acquitted him.
Widespread outrage over Kelly’s sexual misconduct only surfaced with the #MeToo reckoning and peaked after the release of the documentary Surviving R. Kelly.
“I hope this conviction serves as a testament in its own right that no matter how powerful, rich or famous your abuser is, or how small you feel, the judiciary only hears the truth,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, on Wednesday.
A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, after hearing he used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation prosecutors say is a criminal enterprise equaled.
Several accusers testified that Kelly subjected her to perverse and sadistic whims when she was a minor.
Prosecutors said they were ordered to sign non-disclosure agreements and faced threats and penalties such as violent beatings if they violated the so-called “Robs Rules”.
Some said they believed the videotapes he recorded of them having sex would be used against them if they exposed what happened.
According to witnesses, Kelly gave several accusers herpes without disclosing that he had an STD, forced a teenager to have sex with him with a naked girl who emerged from under a boxing ring in his garage, and filmed a shameful video that a smearing victim showed feces on her face as punishment for breaking his rules.
“The horrors your victims endured,” said US District Judge Ann Donnelly in sentencing him. “No price was too high for your happiness.”
Lizzette Martinez was a 17-year-old aspiring singer when she met Kelly at a Florida mall. She was promised mentorship, but quickly ended up as a “sex slave,” she told the court on Wednesday.
When asked if Kelly’s 30-year sentence was sufficient punishment, she paused before answering.
“I personally don’t think it’s enough,” she said, “but I’m happy with it.”
Also presented during the trial was evidence of a fraudulent marriage scheme hatched to protect Kelly after he feared he had impregnated R&B phenomenon Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15 like she was 18; he was 27 then.
Aaliyah collaborated with Kelly who wrote and produced her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number in 1994. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22.
Kelly did not testify at his trial, but his attorneys at the time portrayed his accusers as girlfriends and groupies who had nothing to do against their will and stayed with him because they enjoyed the perks of his lifestyle.
His current attorneys had argued that he shouldn’t get more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “which was associated with severe, prolonged sexual abuse, poverty and childhood violence.”
As an adult with “dyslexia and dyslexia,” the star was “repeatedly conned and financially abused, often by people he paid to protect him,” his attorneys said.
The Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused unless they come forward publicly, as Martinez did. Several women who spoke at Kelly’s sentencing were identified only by their first names or pseudonyms.
Kelly has been detained without bail since 2019. He still faces charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin August 15.
