TOPLINE R&B singer R. Kelly was found guilty of eight counts of violating the Mann Act, or trafficking women across state lines for sex, and one count of racketeering for criminal conduct including the sexual exploitation of children and forced labor, following a month-long trial with explosive testimony from former employees and partners of the singer.
KEY FACTS
After two days of deliberation, the federal jury made up of seven men and five women found Kelly guilty of all nine charges Monday, according to multiple reports.
Kelly, who was tried in federal court in New York, pleaded not guilty to all charges last year and has denied all sexual abuse and misconduct allegations.
Lead prosecutors argued throughout the trial that Kelly was a “predator” who used his fame to entice victims and coerce them into sexual acts with him, and created a criminal enterprise system made up of bodyguards, managers, personal assistants and drivers who helped him get away with it.
One woman and one man that testified against Kelly said he promised them a chance to kick start a career in music, but were pressured by him into sexual acts instead, according to Vulture.
Six witnesses said they had at least one sexual encounter with Kelly while they were underaged — with one accuser, who identified herself as Jane Doe, saying the singer would fly her across the country so they could hook up.
Former members of Kelly’s entourage also testified, including Demetrius Smith, who said that he bribed a woman at a local welfare office with $500 to create a fake ID so that 27-year-old Kelly could marry 15-year-old singer Aaliyah Haughton.
Kelly’s defense argued that he was a loving and caring partner and treated women around him like “gold,” but that those partners did not show him the same courtesy and retaliated against him after he broke things off with them.
His defense also accused Kelly’s former partners who were underage of lying to Kelly, pursuing him knowing “exactly what they were getting into” and then fabricating facts of their relationship, even calling one accuser a “super-stalker” and a “super hustler.”
TANGENT
One of the surprising revelations from multiple testimonies is that Kelly would pressure employees and girlfriends to write apology letters that were allegedly filled with false claims. One woman that went by Jane Doe testified that the singer would direct her and other girlfriends to write “four or five” letters a year. She read one of her letters to the jury which claimed that if Kelly knew her real age, he wouldn’t “mess with me at all.” She also said Kelly told her “the letters would never see the light of day” and alleged the letters were made “to basically exploit us to protect him.” Multiple former flames also testified that Kelly set strict and bizarre rules that they couldn’t leave a room without his direction, couldn’t use their phones and speak to friends or other men without his permission, and he would sometimes force them to have sex with other people he was dating. If they broke the rules he would punish them with spankings or would sometimes leave them alone in a room for days. One of the biggest revelations also surrounded his marriage with former singer Aaliyah Haughton. One of the final witnesses that testified on the stand, a former backup dancer of Kelly’s, claimed she caught him sexually abusing Haughton on a tour bus when she was just 13 or 14 years old. Kelly’s former manager also testified that Haughton had called Kelly in distress, believing she was pregnant, which propelled Kelly to get them married quickly to convince her to obtain an abortion.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“To the victims in this case, your voices were heard, and justice was finally served,” said Jacquelyn Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “We hope that today’s verdict brings some measure of comfort and closure to the victims.”
KEY BACKGROUND
Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is an award-winning singer and music producer who created hits like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time.” Allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct have followed Kelly for decades, which he has denied, but it wasn’t until multiple women spoke out against Kelly following the Me Too movement in 2018 and in the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary released in 2019, that charges were filed. The U.S. District Court in Chicago and the Eastern District of New York filed separate federal charges against the singer in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and Kelly was arrested. However, the New York trial was delayed multiple times due to the pandemic. Prior to the trial, prosecutors asked to admit new evidence against Kelly, including an allegation that Kelly sexually abused a 17-year-old boy who he met at a McDonald’s in Chicago in 2006 and videotaped the boy having sex, and new videos for the jury that depicted Kelly’s physical and verbal abuse of an 18-year-old woman who he believed stole from him. The new evidence was presented during the trial, with the boy coming forward as one of the testifiers against Kelly.
SURPRISING FACT
Kelly went to trial in Chicago in 2008 over charges of child pornography, specifically an allegation of creating a 27-minute sex tape with an underaged woman. While over a dozen witnesses testified, the key testimony from the alleged victim was missing, and the jury ultimately decided to acquit Kelly of all charges, according to the New York Times.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
The singer also faces 13 charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Chicago, with a trial date still waiting to be set. Two of his former employees, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, were also indicted for similar charges. If found guilty, Kelly could face at least an additional five years in prison. He also faces two criminal charges of engaging in prostitution with a minor in Minnesota.
FURTHER READING
R. Kelly’s Trial Begins: Here Are The Main Takeaways (Forbes)
By Kimberlee Speakman, Forbes Staff