American R&B star, R Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, more than 20 years after first facing allegations.
Kelly’s conviction on Wednesday has been
seen as a victory for survivors of sexual violence, particularly those who may
hesitate to speak out against abusers, for fear of retribution, The Guardian
reports.
Last September, a jury in New York City
found Kelly guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, on all nine counts
against him.
On
Wednesday, US district judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence at the federal
court in Brooklyn after hearing from several survivors who attested to how
Kelly’s exploitation reverberated across their lives.
At the trial, victims had described how
Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, subjected them to perverse and
sadistic whims when they were underage.
Several victims said he would demand that
they strictly obey rules such as needing his permission to eat or go to the
bathroom and writing “apology letters” that purported to absolve him of
wrongdoing.
Ahead
of sentencing on Wednesday, some of the victims made statements, including
“Angela”, who said, “with every addition of a new victim you grew in
wickedness”. On this day of sentencing “we reclaim our names”, she said. “We
are no longer the preyed-upon individuals we once were.”
In her victim statement, Lizette Martinez
said: “Robert, you destroyed so many people’s lives.”
Another, unnamed victim who directly
addressed Kelly as he kept his hands folded and his eyes downcast, said: “You
made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because
of how low you made me feel. Do you remember that?”
Kelly, however, did not address the court.
Kelly’s case attracted attention in light
of the #MeToo movement, during which powerful men have been held to account for
sexual misconduct and sexual assault. Kelly follows Harvey Weinstein, Bill
Cosby and other prominent abusers in being sentenced to time behind bars,
although Cosby was acquitted on appeal.
The singer, whose hits include ‘Ignition’
and ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, was represented by Jennifer Bonjean, a lawyer who
represented Cosby.
Kelly’s sentencing came years after sexual
misconduct allegations were first made against him. Accusers included his
former wife, Andrea Kelly, who said she feared Kelly might kill her.
He was charged with 21 counts of making
child sexual abuse videos involving various sexual acts in June 2002 but was
acquitted on all counts following a trial in 2008.
In
2017, an article in Buzzfeed brought fresh allegations that Kelly had trapped
six women in a sex “cult” having taken advantage of them after they approached
him for help with their musical careers.
Then in January 2019, a six-part
documentary titled Surviving R Kelly, detailing the allegations of sexual abuse
and misconduct against the singer aired on US TV network Lifetime. In the film,
accusers wondered if their stories were previously ignored because they were
Black women.
Asked
about some allegations during a CBS interview in 2019, Kelly memorably shouted
at his interviewer, Gayle King, and denied any wrongdoing.
He was later arrested in July 2019 and
charged with sex trafficking offences including child abuse images and
obstruction of justice.
A sentencing memorandum filed by the
federal prosecutors in the eastern district of New York, said, in part: “With
the aid of his inner circle and over a period of decades, the defendant preyed
upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification.
“In order to carry out his many crimes, the
defendant relied upon his fame, money and popularity as an R&B recording
star and used the large network of people his status afforded him – including
his business managers, security guards and bouncers, runners, lawyers,
accountants, and assistants – to both carry out and conceal his crimes.”
While prosecutors sought a minimum 25-year
term, Kelly’s defence pushed for a sentence of 10 years or less. They argued in
court papers he should get a break in part because he “experienced a traumatic
childhood involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and
violence”.
The singer has been detained at the
Metropolitan detention centre in Brooklyn since the verdict last September.
Kelly faces further legal trouble. In federal court in Chicago, he is charged with enticement of a minor, possession of child abuse images and obstruction of justice. That trial is set to be held in August.
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