R. Kelly sentenced to 20 years in prison over child sexual abuse case
Written by worldOneFm on February 23, 2023
R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison on child pornography and child enticement charges on Thursday.
The disgraced singer was found guilty on three counts of producing child pornography and three of enticement of minors for sex in his hometown of Chicago in September 2022.
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the 56-year-old singer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, will serve the sentence at the same time as he completes a 30-year prison term in New York on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
This brings Kelly’s total time behind bars to 31 years, meaning he will be eligible for release when he’s in his eighties.
Previously, prosecutors had called for the singer to be given a 25-year sentence served consecutively, while his defence argued for a sentence of 10 years, served simultaneously.
Kelly, once one of the biggest R&B stars in the world, had faced a total of 13 counts during his Chicago trial, but was acquitted on the other charges – including conspiracy to obstruct his 2008 trial during which he was found not guilty of child pornography and child enticement charges.
He was sentenced to prison in New York in June 2022 after being convicted on one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating an anti-sex trafficking law.
