R&B singer R Kelly has been sentenced to serve 20 years of imprisonment for child sex crimes by a Chicago federal court. The singer was found guilty of six of the 13 charges brought against him, including three counts of coercing minors, reported Variety.
The jury has found that Kelly had produced three videos of himself sexually abusing his then 14-year-old goddaughter. The 56-year-old singer was acquitted of a charge that he had attempted to block an earlier investigation of the granddaughter and two other counts of enticing minors to have sex.
Kelly is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court. The prosecutors have asked for a 25-year sentence to be served once his other 30-year prison sentence is complete, the judge ruled that all but one year of the prison sentence would be served simultaneously with the previous sentence. With this, Kelly technically avoids a life sentence, though he is still serving a full 31 years in prison.
A New York Times report quoted prosecutor Jeannice Williams Appenteng, and said, “The only way to ensure he will not re-offend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life.” The sentencing hearing is the latest in the culmination of nearly three decades of allegations against Kelly, reported Variety. Kelly’s lawyers have decided to appeal the convictions in both.
In 2002, Kelly was indicted on several child pornography charges for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with an unidentified underage girl, but he was acquitted in 2008 on all counts after the jury deliberated for a day.
Kelly’s lawyers have decided to appeal the convictions in both New York and Chicago. Since his arrest in 2019, the singer has been in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.
