Topline
A federal appeals court in Chicago upheld a 20-year sentence for disgraced singer R. Kelly on child pornography and enticement charges, rejecting his appeal just over a year after the former singer was sentenced—and he faces a separate 30-year sentence from another case in New York.
R&B singer R. Kelly's conviction on child pornography and enticement charges was upheld on Friday.
Key Facts
Attorneys for Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, had appealed his 20-year sentence in February, arguing the charges at hand fell outside the statute of limitations.
In a ruling on Friday, however, a three-judge panel at the Chicago-based federal appeals court argued the “statute says otherwise, so we affirm his conviction”—the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children allows prosecution for the rest of the victims’ lives.
Kelly, 57, was sentenced last February following a conviction on six counts of child pornography and enticement for allegedly forcing minors into sex—he had previously been acquitted on seven counts in the case of receiving child pornography.
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told Forbes: “We are disappointed in the ruling but our fight is far from over,” hinting at an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Tangent
The three-time Grammy Award-winning singer’s legal troubles don’t end in Chicago. He was also sentenced to 30 years in prison in June 2022 following a high-profile 2021 New York conviction on eight counts, including racketeering and violating the Mann Act by trafficking women across state lines. Kelly could still see the light of day at the end of his sentence: A judge in Chicago ruled last year that 19 years of his 20-year sentence in Chicago can be served concurrently with his 30-year sentence, meaning the 57-year-old former singer faces a total of 31 years behind bars.
Crucial Quote
“By employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet, [Kelly] long evaded consequences,” federal Judge Amy St. Eve wrote in the ruling, arguing that “those crimes caught up with him at last.”
Key Background
While Kelly repeatedly topped the charts in the 1990s and early 2000s with hits like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Bump n’ Grind,” the R&B star’s career has been mired in controversy, with allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse circling him for nearly three decades. In addition to allegations of child pornography and trafficking, Kelly also raised eyebrows in 1994 when he married late singer Aaliyah when he was 24 and she was only 15. Two years later, Kelly’s ex-wife Tiffany Hawkins filed a lawsuit claiming Kelly had sex with her when she was a minor—Kelly settled that case for $250,000. In 2002, he was charged with 21 counts of child pornography—he pleaded not guilty and was later acquitted. His trial in Chicago stemmed from allegations made by five victims who said they were abused by Kelly while they were minors in the 1990s, while in his trial in New York, Kelly heard from 45 witnesses, including 11 who said he sexually or physically abused them (Kelly pleaded not guilty to all charges).
