R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison because he was found guilty of soliciting women and minors for sexual purposes by the New York court on June 29th. The sentence comes after the conviction last September of the tribulane of Brooklyn, in the United States, following the revelations of 45 victims and on nine different counts. The process lasted six weeks and unearthed a complex organization of brokers and employees who they attracted fans and budding artists and then sexually manipulated and subjugated them, after having locked them up for days in rooms without food or toilets.
The 55-year-old, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has yet to be tried in Chicago for child pornography and in Illinois and Minnesota for other charges. The songwriter of I believe I can fly he has been in prison since July 2019, when he surrendered himself to the authorities, after a glorious career between the 1990s and 2000s.
According to the prosecutor, his fame and the consequent power that came with it triggered a total lack of remorse in him. That’s why the prosecution has asked for at least 25 years in prison for his crimes. The defense was entrusted to Jennifer Bonjean (who also represented Bill Cosby in court and managed to have her sentence for sexual assault overturned), who instead asked for a maximum of ten years in prison, appealing to the abuse and violence that the artist had suffered in childhood. This, in his opinion, had led him to an addiction, a hypersexuality in the adult phase of his life, which must be added to the IQ of 79 and almost total illiteracy.
Angela, the first victim to testify, allegedly said, as reported by the New York Timesthat he behaved like a Pied Piper approaching children with his own money: «When you added a new victim – he told him from the bar in the courtroom – you became more wicked. You have used fame and power to attract and use underage boys and girls for your sexual gratification alone. We have ceased to be who we once were. I only pray that God touches your soul ». Addie, the second victim to speak, said she regretted having been silent for decades about harassment: “the last four years have been a terrible awakening for me and I realized how much my silence has hurt other people.”
Although a victim’s father asked R. Kelly to look him in the eye, the singer kept his gaze fixed on the table for the duration of the testimony. Among other details it emerged that his first marriage in 1994 to aspiring singer Aaliyah Haughton was obtained with a false ID (the girl was 15 at the time), procured by the manager at the time.
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Source: Vanity Fair
