American R&B singer, Robert Kelly, also known as R. Kelly, has been found guilty of child pornography and sex abuse offences by a federal jury in his hometown of Chicago.
R Kelly Convicted For Child Pornography, Sex Abuse
KanyiDaily recalls that the 55-year-old singer was facing trial in Chicago on 13 charges including child porn, obstruction of justice, and enticing minors into sexual activity.
On Wednesday, September 14, Kelly was found guilty on multiple charges of child pornography and luring underage girls to have sex with him but not guilty of obstructing a 2008 state case that ended with his acquittal.
A federal jury in Chicago found Kelly guilty and convicted him on six counts, including three counts of child pornography and three counts of child enticement.
He was, however, acquitted of seven additional counts: one child pornography count, one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, as well as four conspiracy counts.
Jurors, who deliberated for 11 hours over two days, wrote several questions to the judge on Wednesday, at least one indicating the panelists were grappling with some of the case’s legal complexities.
One asked if they had to find Kelly both enticed and coerced minors, or that he either enticed or coerced them. Over objections from Kelly’s lawyer, the judge said they only need to find one.
At trial, prosecutors sought to paint a picture of Kelly as a master manipulator who used his fame and wealth to reel in star-stuck fans, some of them minors, to sexually abuse then discard them.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was desperate to recover child pornographic videos he made and lugged around in a gym bag, witnesses said.
They said he offered up to $1 million to recover missing videos before his 2008 trial, knowing they would land him in legal peril. The conspiracy to hide his abuse ran from 2000 to 2020, prosecutors said.
Kelly associates Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown were co-defendants at the Chicago trial.
Jurors acquitted Mr. McDavid, a longtime Kelly business manager, who was accused of conspiring with Mr. Kelly to rig the 2008 trial.
Mr. Brown, a Kelly associate for years, was acquitted of receiving child pornography.
KanyiDaily recalls that R Kelly was also sentenced to 30-year in prison on June 29, 2022, after he was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking.
