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American R&B singer R Kelly found guilty of child pornography after month long trial in Chicago

American R&B singer R Kelly found guilty of child pornography after month long trial in Chicago

The 'Backyard Party' singer was serving a 30-year sentence for sex offences when he was convicted of three counts of producing child pornography and enticement of a minor.
15 Sep, 2022

Disgraced R&B singer R Kelly, who is serving a 30-year sentence for sex offences, was found guilty of child pornography and other charges on Wednesday after a month-long trial in his hometown of Chicago.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Kelly, a three-time Grammy Award-winner, was acquitted by a federal jury of seven other counts including charges that he obstructed justice in a previous trial, the newspaper said.

Kelly and two ex-associates had been accused of rigging the singer’s 2008 child pornography trial in which a jury delivered a verdict of not guilty.

Kelly’s former manager, Derrel McDavid, and an ex-employee, Milton “June” Brown, were tried alongside the singer in the latest trial and were also acquitted of obstruction charges.

The 12-person jury took around 11 hours over two days to deliver the verdicts, which could add additional decades in prison to the 30 years Kelly is already serving.

A minor victim declined to testify in the 2008 trial because of alleged threats and bribes, but the now 37-year-old woman took the witness stand this time.

Excerpts from videos depicting sexual abuse by Kelly of girls as young as 14 were played for the jury during the trial.

Kelly was convicted in New York in September of last year of recruiting teenagers and women for sex.

The ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ artist was found guilty of eight charges of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering in the New York case.

Faces further charges

 Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

Kelly’s conviction in New York was widely seen as a milestone for the #MeToo movement: It was the first major sex abuse trial where the majority of the accusers were Black women.

It was also the first time Kelly faced criminal consequences for the abuse he was rumoured for decades to have inflicted on women and children.

Kelly also faces prosecution in two other state jurisdictions.

In the New York case, his accusers described events that often mirrored one another.

Many of the alleged victims said they had met the singer at concerts or mall performances and were then handed slips of paper with Kelly’s contact details by members of his entourage.

Several said they were told he could bolster their music industry aspirations.

But prosecutors argued all were instead “indoctrinated” into Kelly’s world — groomed for sex at his whim and kept in line by “coercive means of control,” including isolation and cruel disciplinary measures.

Core to the New York case was Kelly’s relationship with the late singer Aaliyah.

Kelly wrote and produced her first album — Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number — before illegally marrying her when she was just 15 because he feared he had impregnated her.

His former manager admitted in court to bribing a worker to obtain fake identification allowing the union, which was later annulled.

Comments

Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Sep 15, 2022 01:07pm
As you sow, so shall you reap.
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NYS Sep 15, 2022 01:23pm
A course correction was long overdue and verdict is here .. All hypocrate remember "TRUTH NEVER PERISHES"
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Ashfaq ahmed Sep 15, 2022 03:21pm
Where there is Justice and rule of law in real sense. Our lawyers and judges refer to US and British Laws and Judicial system but fail to follow themselves. This makes the difference. Last months, a Bangladeshi Judge warded Life imprisonment to one who committed rape and added special remarks "This is not Pakistan" (reported in Times of India).
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Syed Hasni Sep 15, 2022 03:22pm
You got to be Kidding Man!
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Pandu Sep 15, 2022 05:26pm
This practice is considered a tradition in Pakistan and Afghanistan, called bachabazi.
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Maula Jatt Sep 16, 2022 12:50am
This is indeed a tradition in pakistan and Afghanistan but not in rest of world.
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