r kelly

American rapper and R&B artist R. Kelly (real name – Robert Sylvester Kelly), artist of I Believe I Can Fly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual violence and trafficking in minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

In September last year, the musician was found guilty of sexual crimes, now new charges have been added to these charges. The prosecution concluded that the 55-year-old artist used his popularity to coerce, manipulate and force minors to comply with their demands, including sexual ones. It has been proven that R. Kelly held his victims captive and forced them to eat or ask permission to go to the toilet. One of the girls then said that the singer kept her hungry and thirsty for two days and then raped her. Accusations of creating a “sex cult” have been heard before, but only now proven.

R Kelly in court

R Kelly was also found guilty of violating the Mann Act, the US federal law that prohibits people from moving across state lines for “any act of a sexual nature.”

R. Kelly was found to have been involved in criminal activity for 25 years. Also during the trial, it was learned that Ar Kelly forged documents of artist Alia, a 15-year-old girl, in order to be able to legally register her marriage with him. They got married in 1994, the court later declared their marriage illegal due to the age of the singer. In 2001, Aliya died in a plane crash.

The prosecution demanded that the rapper be sentenced to more than 25 years in prison, his lawyers tried to commute his sentence – no more than 10 years, as for Ar Kelly a longer period would be “equivalent to a life sentence.”

The defense argued that R Kelly himself was sexually abused as a child by a family member. Furthermore, he was shot as a child and witnessed the murder of his friend. These facts of the traumatic experience were taken into account when sentencing, but the commutation of the prison sentence was not allowed:

Said Judge Ann Donnelly.

Ar Kelly himself pleaded not guilty. The rapper has been accused of sexual harassment for years since 1997. He was arrested in 2002, 2003 and 2019, but was released each time.

R Kelly is the recipient of three Grammy awards. It gained wide popularity after the release of the song I Believe I Can Fly in 1995. His discography includes 14 albums – album sales have increased fivefold since the start of the case.