The singer asked the court for a 10-year sentence, but will remain behind bars for thirty years.
Well-known singer R. Kelly will spend the next decades behind bars. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York for extortion, human trafficking and sexual abuse. The 55-year-old singer has systematically used his fame for the sexual abuse of underage girls, women, boys and human trafficking, informs the CNN.
Last year, jury found Kelly guilty of nine counts, based on which New York prosecutors asked the court to sentence the singer to more than 25 years behind bars. However, R. Kelly's lawyers asked the court for a significantly lower sentence because they considered the three decades behind bars to be a "life-long" sentence.
NEW YORK (AP) — R. Kelly, who used music superstardom to subject young fans to systemic sexual abuse, sentenced to 30 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/dzOfD0eWdt
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 29, 2022
The court finally heard the prosecutors' requests when it sent the singer to prison for 30 years. In the courtroom, the verdict was heard by the singer himself, but also by one of the injured women. "It's been 23 years that we've known each other, and since then you've abused a lot of girls," she told him in front of everyone. "Now it is time for your freedom to be taken away from you," she said.
Despite the verdict, Kelly will have to return to court in late summer because he faces charges in Chicago of producing and distributing child pornography. In 2019, it became clear that there was a recording on which R. Kelly allegedly urinated on the face of a 14-year-old girl, had sex with her repeatedly, and even addressed her with the number fourteen.
