R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for using his superstardom to prey on young girls.
The singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty on all counts of sex trafficking and racketeering on Monday (September 27).
The 55-year-old disgraced R&B superstar faced a total of nine counts including one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts that included sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, and sex trafficking charges, and also eight additional counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law.
Federal prosecutors recommended R. Kelly be sentenced to more than 25 years behind bars to protect the public from the “calculated, methodical” way he used his fame to prey on young girls.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence after hearing impact statements from several of his survivors.
One survivor addressed Kelly directly saying:
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?
Another survivor told the singer:
You used your fame and power to groom and coach underage boys and girls for your own sexual gratification.
We are no longer the preyed-upon individuals we once were.
Other survivors testified that the singer forced them to sign nondisclosure forms and they would be subjected to threats and punishments such as violent spankings if they broke “Rob’s Rules.”
R. Kelly has also been accused of giving several of his survivors Herpes without disclosing he had an STD and he even filmed a shaming video that showed one victim smearing feces on her face as punishment for breaking “Rob’s Rules.”
The singer’s attorney argued that he should only be sentenced to 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.”
His lawyers also stated because Kelly was an adult with “literacy deficiencies,” he was “repeatedly defrauded and financially abused, often by the people he paid to protect him.”
Unfortunately, for R. Kelly it isn’t over.
He is still facing obstruction of justice and child pornography charges in Chicago.
The trial is slated to begin on August 15.
Source: Associated Press
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