R Kelly, a disgraced R&B singer, was given a 30-year prison term for sex trafficking and assaulting young girls after the judge noted that he had taught his victims that “love is captivity and violence” and that “the public needs to be protected.”
Following a nearly six-week trial that heightened claims that had trailed the singer of the Grammy-winning single “I Believe I Can Fly” since the early 2000s, Kelly, 55, was found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering last September.
Despite the defense attorneys’ request for a sentence of 10 years or less, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Ann M. Donnelly delivered Kelly’s sentence on Wednesday. Attorneys had requested at least 25 years.
The most seasoned investigators will never forget the atrocities your victims went through, Donnelly warned Kelly, adding that he left “a trail of broken lives” in his wake.
She claimed that “these acts were calculated, meticulously planned, and consistently carried out for approximately 25 years.” They learned from you that love is slavery and brutality.
When Kelly was sentenced, numerous of his accusers testified before the court in tears and rage about how Kelly had taken advantage of them and misled his followers.
Kelly chose not to speak throughout the proceedings. In addition, he was told to pay a $100,000 fine.
Since his trial, Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The location of Kelly’s sentence has not been made public.
The Eastern District of New York’s U.S. attorney, Breon S. Peace, termed R. Kelly a “predator” and referred to the sentence as a “major” result for all of his victims.
He continued to perpetrate crimes for approximately 30 years without receiving punishment, up to this day.
These are the primarily Black and Brown women’s and children’s voices that were heard and taken seriously. Justice was ultimately served.
They have won, as well as justice for sexual assault victims. Women and children must be protected, victims must be heard, and offenders must be brought to justice.
He expressed the hope that the sentence would demonstrate that a perpetrator of abuse may be brought to justice regardless of their wealth or notoriety.
One of the victims who spoke earlier at the hearing, Lizzette Martinez, said, “I’m satisfied with it, but I don’t think Kelly’s sentence is enough.”
Prior to meeting R Kelly and being a “sex slave,” Martinez told the reporters that she was a “up-and-coming vocalist, a girl full of life.”
The victims’ attorney, Gloria Allred, expressed pride in her clients for their struggle.
They wished for the court to recognize their suffering, she said. Together, she continued, “they were able to counter his strength by becoming empowered.” I’m pleased with them all.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s attorney, also spoke and stated they want to appeal.
After the sentencing, Bonjean addressed the media outside the courthouse and declared, “He’s not a predator.”
She said, “He regrets it and he is sorry.” He objects to the judgments that have been formed about him.
Kelly, according to Bonjean, “was prepared for it,” and they want to appeal: “For him, 30 years in prison is like a life sentence.”
The sentencing marks the end of Kelly’s gradual decline. Despite widespread public speculation about his alleged abuse of underage girls starting in the 1990s, Kelly enjoyed a cult following and sold millions of albums.
The #MeToo movement brought to widespread indignation over Kelly’s sexual misbehavior, which peaked following the release of the docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Kelly’s attorneys had claimed that due to his horrific upbringing, which included “severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence,” he shouldn’t spend more than 10 years in jail.
The actor was “repeatedly scammed and financially abused” as an adult with “literacy impairments,” frequently by those he paid to protect him, according to his attorneys.
The public was first made aware of Kelly’s alleged abuse of underage girls in the 1990s. He was sued in 1997 by a lady who claimed that he had molested and harassed her while she was a teenager, and in Chicago, he later came up against criminal child pornography accusations involving a different girl. In 2008, a jury there found him not guilty, and he later resolved the claim.
However, the jury last year found the “I Believe I Can Fly” hitmaker guilty after hearing about how he met ladies and utilized his entourage of managers and assistants to keep them submissive, an activity that the prosecution claimed constituted a criminal enterprise.
Kelly was accused by several people of subjecting underage victims to bizarre and brutal impulses.
The accusers claimed they were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements and were threatened with punishments like harsh spankings if they disobeyed what one called “Rob’s rules.”
Some claimed they were afraid that if they revealed what was going on, the videotapes he made of them having sex would be used against them.
According to testimony, Kelly forced a teenage boy to participate in sex with a naked girl who emerged from underneath a boxing ring in his garage, gave several accusers herpes without disclosing he had an STD, and made a humiliating video of one victim in which she smeared feces on her face as punishment for disobeying him.
Evidence was also provided on a fraudulent marriage scam Kelly concocted to shield himself after he believed he had conceived R&B superstar Aaliyah in 1994 when she was only 15 years old.
Witnesses claimed they wed while wearing similar jogging suits and a license that falsely stated she was 18 while actually being 27.
Kelly co-wrote and produced Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number,” in 1994. At the age of 22, she perished in a plane disaster.
Kelly continued to sell millions of CDs as the abuse persisted for years.
Prior to his sentencing on Wednesday, seven women made victim impact statements.
Many others said that when they were underage, Kelly subjected them to bizarre and sadistic whims.
Angela, one of the victims, stood up in front of the jury, turned to face Kelly, and referred to him as a “Pied Piper” who “lured children with his money and celebrity.”
You become more cruel with each additional victim, she said. “You groomed and coached juvenile boys and girls for your personal sexual enjoyment,” the accusation read.
Today, we take back our names, she declared. We no longer represent the prey that we once did.
She responded, “I pray that god penetrates your spirit,” as Kelly gave her a fleeting glance before turning his attention back to the table at which he was seated.
The second victim who testified in court on Wednesday claimed she had no idea that a concert she attended in September 1994 would forever alter her life.
Before presenting her statement on Wednesday, Addie, who previously testified at Kelly’s trial but remained anonymous, took a few deep breaths.
I never realized how much attending that event in September 1994 would alter me, she added.
The musician Aaliyah was mentioned as a favorite by Addie. R Kelly married Aaliyah when she was 15 years old, and at age 22, she perished in a plane crash.
Kelly allegedly abused Addie sexually the night of his show, and she did not see him again until the trial, according to Addie.
She claims she now regrets her decision to remain silent for many years since “it was a time of silence.”
The past four years have served as a rude wakeup to the harm that my silence has caused.
Lizette Martinez, one of the women who appeared in the documentary, addressed in court alongside Gloria Allred.
Martinez spoke to the day she met Kelly at a mall and remarked, “January 1995 ultimately changed me life.”
Martinez, 17, wanted to be a singer, and Kelly agreed to be her coach. Martinez, however, claims that two months after they met, he began abusing her.
‘I was left in shock, confused and in tears,’ she said.
‘I do not know how to put a price on all I’ve gone through. I am now 45, a mother and I struggle with mental health.’
Kelly did not look at Kelly Martinez as she spoke.
‘Robert, you destroyed so many people’s lives,’ she told him.
The court next heard from a fourth victim, Jane Doe No. 2, who described how a sweaty Kelly would force her to have oral intercourse with him after he got home from playing basketball.
‘I felt special, because someone who was special to the world was interested in me,’ she said.
As she continued on with her statement, Kelly began to speak with his lawyers prompting the witness to stop and hold up her hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, looking at Kelly. ‘I don’t want to interrupt his conversation.’
‘No price is too high to pay for your happly did things to her that she ‘plans to take to my grave.’
A fifth woman to speak, Kitti Jones, said that Kelly did things to her that she ‘plans to take to my grave.’
‘Many of us have been waiting for this day to come,’ she added.
The next woman to give her statement, only identified as Faith, spoke directly to Kelly, with her father by her side.
‘I hope you forgive yourself,’ she said as she began to cry. ‘I forgive myself.’
Her father then addressed the court.
‘I didn’t come here to bash Mr. Kelly,’ he said. ‘I do want to ask you, Mr. Kelly, to look at me, man to man, father to father.
Put yourself in my shoes. I’ve certainly put myself in your shoes.’
On Wednesday, Sonja, also known as Jane Doe No. 3, was the last woman to speak before the court adjourned for lunch.
She had previously testified in court that Kelly’s house near Olympia Fields, Illinois, is where she was jailed and sexually assaulted in 2003.
She had sent the court a statement through email before the hearing on Wednesday, but she didn’t want it to be read in full.
She did, however, leave the court with some strong words.
‘I was scared for my life,’ she said, recalling how Kelly would have people follow her every move over the years.
‘I hope and I pray to God that we can all heal,’ she said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Gloria Allred, who is representing the three women who testified against R Kelly, told reporters on Wednesday that ‘no one can undo the harm that has been done to these victims.’