R Kelly Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For S3x Crimes
Category: Entertainment News
The singer and songwriter, 55, was convicted of racketeering and s3x trafficking last year at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had once wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were Black women.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence on Wednesday after hearing from several survivors who attested to how Kelly’s exploitation reverberated across their lives.
“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 Kelly, who kept his hands folded and his eyes downcast. “Do you remember that?”
Kelly did not address the court.
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 hit maker 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.
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