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| Photo Credit: AP. |
American R&B star R. Kelly was Wednesday sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his celebrity status to subject and lure young fans and children to systematic sexual abuse.
R. Kelly,
55, was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year. He was accused
of sexual abuse mostly by black women, The Associated Press reports.
U.S.
District Judge Ann Donnelly made the sentencing after hearing testimonies from
several survivors who said they have had to live with the memories of Kelly’s
exploitation and abuse.
“You made me
do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how
low you made me feel,” said one unnamed survivor, directly addressing a Kelly
who kept his hands folded and his eyes downcast, according to The Associated
Press. “Do you remember that?”
Allegations
of Kelly’s abuse of young girls and children first surfaced publicly in the
1990s but that did affect his album sales which ran into millions, the website
noted.
Mr Kelly’s
sentencing came nine months after his conviction for using his music stardom to
sexually abuse women for decades. He did not make comment in court.
Kelly’s
lawyers had proposed a not more than 10 years in prison, arguing that he had a
traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty,
and violence,” according to The Associated Press.
As an adult
with “literacy deficiencies,” the star was “repeatedly defrauded and
financially abused, often by the people he paid to protect him,” his lawyers
said.
Kelly’s top hits
include the 1996 song “I Believe I can Fly” and the cult classic “Trapped in
the Closet,” which featured tale of sexual betrayal and intrigue.
He is still
facing child pornography allegations in Chicago, Illinois. In 1996 Kelly was
sued by a woman who alleged sexual battery and sexual harassment while she was
a minor, according to The Associated Press. He also faced criminal child
pornography charges related to a different girl in Chicago. In 2008, a jury
acquitted him and he settled the lawsuit.
Mr Kelly was
convicted by the Brooklyn federal court jury after hearing that he used his
entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an
operation described by prosecutors as amounting to criminal enterprise, according
to The Associated Press.
Kelly, born
Robert Sylvester Kelly, used his “fame, money and popularity” to systematically
“prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification,”
prosecutors wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
So many accusers
said Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were
underage. They also alleged that they were ordered to sign nondisclosure forms
and were subjected to threats and punishments such as violent spankings if thy
broke what one referred to a “Rob’s rules,” The Associated Press reported.
Some of the
victims said they believed the videotapes the R&B star shot of them having
sex would be used against them if they exposed what was happening.
The Associated
Press reported that testimony revealed that Kelly infected several accusers with
herpes and never disclosed he had an STD, coerced a teenage boy to join him for
sex with a naked girl who emerged from underneath a boxing ring in his garage,
and shot a shaming video that showed one victim smearing feces on her face as
punishment for breaking his rules.
Mr Kelly
denied the allegations but did not make any testimony during his appearance. His lawyers described his accusers as
girlfriends and groupies who weren’t forced to do anything against their will,
arguing that they enjoyed the perks of his lifestyle.
Kelly is
also believed to have impregnated R&B star Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just
15 but he hatched a fraudulent marriage scheme to protect his crime. Witnesses
said the two were married in matching jogging suits using a license falsely
listing her age as 18. Kelly was 26 at the time.