Admin l Wednesday, June 29, 2022
NEW YORK – US-based musician and multiple award winner, R. Kelly was today sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for trafficking children and sex abuse.
U.S District judge, Ann Donnelly sentenced R. Kelly, who has turned 55 to 30 years imprisonment after hearing testimonies of survivors, who explained in vivid terms how the singer exploited them.
“You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel . Do you remember that?”, one of his accuser told the music super star who was looking quite downcast.
Kelly’s lawyer had prayed the court to be lenient and sentence his client to no more than 10 years in prison as a result of the singer’s childhood experience. According to him, the singer 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.
Allegations that the R& B singer sexually abused young girls came into public view in the 1990s, followed by widespread outrage. Release of the docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” reinforced what had been mere allegations that the superstar was into child sex abuse.
- Kelly is well known for his 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and the classic “Trapped in the Closet,” a tale of sexual betrayal and intrigue.