AFormer hip-hop legend R. Kelly may never live as a free man again. A federal court in Chicago, Illinois found the 55-year-old guilty on Wednesday of years of sexually abusing minors and filming the assaults. However, the jury, who deliberated for about 11 hours, found it unproven that R. Kelly and two co-defendant former employees pressured witnesses to prevent them from testifying at a previous criminal trial in 2008. Therefore, the jury found the musician, whose real name was Robert Sylvester Kelly, guilty of only six of the 13 charges. If he is sentenced, he still faces at least ten years in prison. After a federal court in New York sentenced the Grammy winner to 30 years in prison last summer for human trafficking, sexual assault and bribery, he will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars.
During the five-week trial in Chicago, the prosecution had shown the jury excerpts from a nearly 27-minute long, heavily pixelated video that showed R. Kelly sexually abusing his then 15-year-old goddaughter “Jane”. The 37-year-old testified that she was forced to have sex by the musician “hundreds of times” before her 18th birthday. He put her under psychological pressure and intimidated her until she lost contact with her parents. As “Jane” admitted on the witness stand, she nonetheless continued to be in an adult relationship with R. Kelly. Another three witnesses reported similar experiences.
In her closing arguments earlier this week, R. Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean warned the jury not to judge her client based on what the media had reported about the singer (“I Believe I Can Fly”). She should base her judgment solely on the evidence. At least musically, R. Kelly did wonderful things. “Leave him what little humanity he has left,” Bonjean asked the jury before they retired for deliberations on Tuesday.
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