Jury selection for R. Kelly’s 2008 child pornography case began in Chicago on Monday. Kelly was found not guilty of having sex with a 14-year-old in 2008.
In June, the 55-year-old R&B artist was sentenced to 30 years for racketeering and sex trafficking. He was in a Brooklyn prison and was just moved to Chicago.
The jury will meet in the Dirksen US Courthouse to consider the singer’s allegations after he was found not guilty in a 2008 child pornography trial when he reportedly threatened and paid off a girl who alleges he videotaped them having sex when she was 14-years-old.
He’s accused of colluding with two others to manipulate a Cook County child pornography case and hide sexual assault charges against youngsters. 2008 jurors saw the sex tape.
Prosecutors allege Kelly had sex with the child hundreds of times in his houses, tour buses, and recording studios.
Kelly reportedly filmed a log house at his Chicago property between 1998 and 2000.
14-year-old girl calls musician ‘daddy’ in video.
The anonymous lady in her 30s will testify at the next trial in the singer’s hometown of Chicago. She claims she met Kelly in high school when her aunt worked for the singer, according the AP.
Kelly allegedly intimidated the child and her family to avoid court. Parents approached Kelly after seeing the footage in the early 2000s. The musician reportedly told them, “You’re with me or against me.”
Derrel McDavid and Miton Brown, R&B singer associates, are co-defendants. McDavid is accused of helping Kelly rig the 2008 trial. Brown is on trial for accessing child porn.
Four witnesses will testify. Kelly faces possible sex-with-minors charges. Kelly’s 30-year sentence may be increased if convicted.
Meanwhile, Kelly’s attorney says that the’media battle’ would make a fair trial ‘impossible’
Criminal Defense Attorney Jennifer BonJean tweeted, “Jury selection begins Monday.” Given the media attack against my client, it’ll be hard to locate 12 unbiased judges. We’ll battle like hard to obtain a law-abiding jury, despite the government’s huge advantage.
Kelly, 55, was transported from Brooklyn to Chicago in July, two weeks after being sentenced to 30 years for racketeering and sex trafficking.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 of sexually abusing young followers, including minors, in a decades-long scam.
Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in Brooklyn Federal Court on June 29. Kelly contested the judgement and punishment.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 of sexually abusing young followers, including minors, in a decades-long scam.
Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in Brooklyn Federal Court on June 29. Kelly contested the judgement and punishment.
Many of Kelly’s accusers reside in Chicago, so attention will be high.
Kelly spent almost a year in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. He was put on suicide watch after sentence.
Following a psychiatric evaluation, the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said Kelly remained on suicide watch ‘for his own protection’
Kelly’s attorney, Bonjean, filed a complaint claiming prison authorities put Kelly on suicide watch’solely for punitive reasons and because he’s a high-profile prisoner.’
Bonjean contended the proposal violated Kelly’s Eighth Amendment rights since he wasn’t suicidal. Suicide watch ended.
Kelly was fined $100,000 in New York.
Last September, after a six-week trial, he was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering.
He claims innocence.
The ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ singer perpetrated the horrible deeds for decades.
Kelly didn’t speak in court after victims accused him of preying on them.
The judge said Kelly left ‘a trail of shattered lives’ and that seasoned detectives won’t forget the atrocities his victims faced.
‘These crimes were planned and performed for approximately 25 years,’ she claimed. You taught them love is slavery and cruelty.
Lizzette Martinez, one of Kelly’s victims, said she doesn’t believe his punishment is adequate but is satisfied with it.
Martinez was a ‘up-and-coming singer, a girl full of life’ before meeting R Kelly and becoming a’sex slave.’
Kelly was liked by fans and sold millions of CDs despite abuse claims in the 1990s.
#MeToo and the docuseries ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ sparked widespread indignation over Kelly’s sexual misdeeds.
Kelly’s attorneys suggested he should receive no more than 10 years in jail because of his difficult background.
As an adult with ‘literacy problems,’ the singer was’repeatedly scammed and financially mistreated,’ his attorneys alleged.
In the 1990s, Kelly abuse allegations surfaced. A minor lady sued him in 1997 for sexual violence and harassment.
Kelly was convicted after prosecutors alleged he utilised his entourage of managers and aides to meet females and keep them subservient.
Several adolescent accusers said Kelly indulged bizarre and cruel impulses.
The women said they were forced to sign nondisclosure contracts and spanked if they breached ‘Rob’s rules.’
Some feared the sex recordings he filmed would be used against them if they spoke out.
According to evidence, Kelly gave numerous accusers herpes without admitting he had an STD, pushed a young boy to join him for sex with a nude female in his garage, and made a humiliation video of one victim spreading excrement on her face as punishment for breaching his rules.
A bogus marriage ruse was created to protect Kelly when he suspected he pregnant R&B superstar Aaliyah in 1994 when she was 15.
Witnesses stated they got married in similar jogging clothes using a fake 18-year-old licence; he was 27.
Aaliyah’s 1994 first album was written and produced by Kelly. She crashed at 22 in 2001.
While Kelly was abused, she sold millions of CDs.