R. Kelly Found Guilty of All Counts in Racketeering and Sex Trafficking Trial
By Greg Hanlon and Christine Pelisek - People Magazine
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R&B singer and songwriter R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering charges in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, N.Y. Monday following decades of sex abuse allegations, prosecutors announced.
The verdict followed a trial that began on Aug. 18 and included 50 witnesses.
CNN reports that during closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said Kelly masterminded a scheme to "target, groom and exploit girls, boys and women."
NPR reports Kelly's defense lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, referencing the bombshell documentary Surviving R. Kelly, portrayed the alleged victims as liars, saying, "A lot of people watched Surviving R. Kelly, and unfortunately, a lot of people are now surviving off R. Kelly."
Prosecutors said in an indictment that Kelly, 54, and his team — including managers, bodyguards and assistants — "traveled throughout the United States and abroad to perform at concert venues…and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly" as far back as 1999.
According to the indictment, the "I Believe I Can Fly" singer allegedly required his victims to follow "numerous rules" in which they "were not permitted to leave their room without receiving permission, including to eat or go to the bathroom," were "not permitted to look at other men" and "were required to call Kelly 'Daddy.'"
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The indictment also accused Kelly of "engaging in sexual activity with girls under 18 years old," failing to disclose "a sexually transmitted disease Kelly had contracted" and producing child pornography by requesting that underage girls send him photographs.
"R. Kelly's Enterprise was not only engaged in music; as alleged, for two decades the enterprise at the direction of R. Kelly preyed upon young women and teenagers whose dreams of meeting a superstar, soon turned into a nightmare of rape, child pornography and forced labor," Angel Melendez, special agent in charge from Homeland Security Investigations, said in a statement after Kelly's 2019 indictment.
"The musician turned predator allegedly used his stardom to coax some victims into nefarious sex acts while certain members of his enterprise calculatingly facilitated the aberrant conduct...R. Kelly believed he could fly, but it will be justice to see his oppressive wings clipped," Melendez said.
Kelly has maintained his innocence throughout his legal troubles.
He has been in custody since 2019.
This was Kelly's second trial for sex related charges. He was previously acquitted in 2008 on child pornography charges. Kelly is also facing state and federal charges in Illinois.
