R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison after five-week long trial due to sex-related crimes.
R&B singer R. Kelly was finally sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping and other sex-related crimes on Wednesday.
In September, a jury found Kelly guilty on all nine charges: one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act after accusations of underage sex with girls dating back in the ‘90s, but eventually evading punishment for almost 30 years.
Presiding Judge Ann M. Donnelly, in handing the sentence after hearing Kelly’s victims, said that
“The public has to be protected from behaviors like this,” according to the New York Times.
"These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years," Judge Donnelly added. "You taught them that love is enslavement and violence."
“This case is not about sex. It’s about violence and cruelty and control,” Donnelly told Kelly.
The federal trial in Brooklyn lasted for five weeks with testimonies from more than 40 witnesses and 11 accusers who came forward and took the stand, claiming that they were sexually and physically abused by Kelly at some point of his career.
The hearings also included people involved with orchestrating the R&B singer's 1994 marriage to the late singer Aaliyah when she was just a minor and he was an adult after she believed she'd gotten pregnant.
Kelly’s crimes fell within the following four categories: enticement of children; the sexual exploitation of children through the production of child pornography; forced labor; and exposing others to incurable communicable disease (genital herpes) through unprotected sexual intercourse as Kelly didn't disclose his status, probing the government to push for a sentence longer than 25 years.
However, after his sentencing, his defense team was seeking the minimum of 10 years after providing evidence of abuse as a child by his older sister and his landlord, according to recently unsealed court documents.
Tags: #abuse, #criminal, #sexcharges, #notaboutsex, #violencecrueltyandcontrol