R. Kelly was a major international star in the 1990s.
Disgraced R&B star R. Kelly was convicted on six counts of child pornography and enticing a minor into sexual activity on Thursday in Chicago. However, he was acquitted on charges that he and his associates had conspired to obstruct justice by fixing a 2008 state trial on child porn charges.
Kelly was specifically convicted of three counts of coercing minors into sexual activity and three counts of producing sex tapes involving a minor. Each count carries a 10-year minimum sentence, and he faces up to 90 years in prison.
The Grammy-winning sex predator was accused of producing three videos of himself sexually abusing underage girls, including his goddaughter, who was 14 years old at the time. Four other women took the stand to testify that they too engaged in sexual activity with the star while underage.
A 2008 trial that ended with Kelly acquitted of producing child sexual abuse imagery centered on one of the same videos, in which prosecutors said he is seen sexually abusing and urinating on his goddaughter.
At the time, the girl had testified that she was not the girl in the film. However, prosecutors in the current trial presented evidence of years’ worth of payments to her and her family indicating that Kelly’s team had been buying their silence, and she testified that not only had she lied in the previous trial, but that Kelly and his team had put her up to it.
The singer’s former business manager and former employee were accused of trying to hide incriminating videos of Kelly in sexual activities with minors.
However, they were acquitted of all charges against them, including arranging payments to people attempting to recover the “stolen” videos and conspiring to recover child sexual abuse imagery, and Kelly was acquitted of conspiring to obstruct an earlier investigation and two other counts of enticing minors into sex.
Kelly is already serving a 30-year sentence on sex trafficking and racketeering charges after he was convicted of nine criminal counts in New York last year. He faces further charges in Minnesota and another trial in Chicago.
The star, who did not testify in his own defense, continues to proclaim his innocence. His lawyer Jennifer Bonjean has described him as a “victim of extortion and financial exploitation” targeted by the excesses of thes #MeToo movement.
