R Kelly convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking

 

File photo of R Kelly during one of his court appearances.  

American singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly popular known as R Kelly has been convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. He might spend decades in prison.

The 54-year-old multiple award-winning singers have been sexually abusing women, boys, and girls for decades according to jurors who comprised of 7 men and 5 women.

Evidence confirmed that R Kelly sexually abused late R&B singer Aaliyah who was one of the musician’s victims. The American musician illegally wed Aaliyah in a Chicago hotel room in 1994, when she was 15 years old.

Recall that R Kelly has been in the custody of a law enforcement agency in the United States for over two years. He was arrested in Chicago for multiple federal sex crimes in 2 different states.

Kelly was charged with racketeering that has 14 underlying acts: one act of bribery, three acts of sexual exploitation of a child, one act of kidnapping, three acts of forced labor, and six acts of violating the Mann Act.

The alleged crimes stretched from 1994 up to December 2018 and are based on incidents involving six anonymous victims, several of whom were underage.

To convict him of racketeering, prosecutors have to prove that Kelly committed at least two of these 14 underlying acts. The prosecutors were able to prove 12 of the 14 acts.

Since August 18, 2021, R. Kelly has been on trial. After 9 hours of deliberation across two days, jurors found R. Kelly guilty on Monday, September 27, 2021. The American musician is expected to be sentenced on May 4, 2022.

R. Kelly is the “worst” predator

File photo of R Kelly during one of his court appearances. 

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented three of the six victims who testified in the case, said R. Kelly is the “worst” predator she has ever pursued.

“I have been practicing law for 47 years. During this time I have pursued many sexual predators who have committed crimes against women and children. Of all the predators that I have pursued, however, Mr. Kelly is the worst, for many reasons,” Allred told reporters.

“First, he used the power of his celebrity to recruit vulnerable underage girls to sexually abuse them. These were not May-October relationships, which is what his defense attorney wanted the jury to believe — these were crimes against children and some adults.

“Second, to use the power of his business enterprise and many of his inner circle employees to assist him and enable him in his plan and his scheme to lure his victims to him, isolate them, intimidate them, control them, indoctrinate them, punish them, shame them, and humiliate them. All of which made Mr. Kelly more powerful and more dangerous than many other sexual predators who operate without a network of financial and businesses to support and enable them.”

Watch a documentary on the embarrassing fall of R Kelly below