Popular American singer, R. Kelly was sentenced to a maximum of 30-years imprisonment for sexually abusing children and women.
Earlier in September 2021, the R&B singer, 55, was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking offences by a New York jury.
R. Kelly, a native of Chicago, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, also received a $100,000 (£82,525) fine as punishment.
He is presently being prosecuted on three more counts separately.
R. Kelly, famous for his hit songs including “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition,” was found to have lured women and children into sexual assault over a period of 20 years.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly, stated at the celebrity’s sentence on Wednesday, that he had used sex as a weapon, compelling his victims to perform awful things and burdening them with fatal diseases.
She said that the sentence will serve as a deterrence for others against committing similar acts in the future.
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At Kelly’s six-week trial in Brooklyn, the jury heard testimony about how Kelly trafficked women between several US states with the help of managers, security personnel, and other members of his entourage.
The court also learned how Kelly, in 1994, illegally got marriage licenses to marry singer Aaliyah, when she was 15-years-old, seven years before she died in a plane crash.
Aaliyah was identified as being 18 years old on the certificate, which had been leaked at the time. Months later, the marriage was dissolved.
Given the gravity of Kelly’s offenses and the “need to safeguard the public from additional crimes,” federal prosecutors had suggested that he get a sentence of at least 25 years in prison.
However, the 10-year minimum sentence required for his conviction was requested by his attorneys, along with no more time than that.
They presented Kelly as growing up in a poor violent home and being sexually abused at a young age.
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