R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in sex trafficking case
Source: AP
NEW YORK (AP) R&B star R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for using his superstardom to subject young fans some just children to systematic sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter, 55, was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had once wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were Black women. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence after hearing from several survivors who attested to how Kellys exploitation reverberated across their lives.
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. Do you remember that? Kelly did not address the court. The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s. Widespread outrage over Kellys sexual misconduct didnt come until the #MeToo reckoning, reaching a crescendo after the release of the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.
Kellys lawyers had argued he should get no more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence. 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. The hitmaker is known for work including the 1996 hit I Believe I Can Fly and the cult classic Trapped in the Closet, a multi-part tale of sexual betrayal and intrigue.
Allegations that Kelly abused young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s. He was sued in 1997 by a woman who alleged sexual battery and sexual harassment while she was a minor, and he later faced criminal child pornography charges related to a different girl in Chicago. A jury there acquitted him in 2008, and he settled the lawsuit. All the while, Kelly continued to sell millions of albums.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/r-kelly-sentencing-df9bbb51b5f991c612108644c0e18058
Faux pas
(14,671 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,905 posts)Faux pas
(14,671 posts)just like cosby. A lot of destruction and ruined lives.
marble falls
(57,080 posts)... the record companies' pouring money to keep him on the streets.
BumRushDaShow
(128,905 posts)He was a big bucks entertainer who was popular with what was a new genre at the time - "New Jack Swing" with Teddy Riley and others in the late '80s/early '90s and produced for a number of singers back then.
hlthe2b
(102,236 posts)LudwigPastorius
(9,137 posts)Beachnutt
(7,320 posts)I guess his crimes were worse.
Glad they're both locked up for a long time though.
live love laugh
(13,104 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(9,966 posts)Lock that yakasʹ poviya up!
Traildogbob
(8,726 posts)Ya watchin this shit. Two down, you next??? Save the children. Post womb. No worries, there is still sex in prison. They have this rule with Pedies in there. I did not know he was Republican like his boy Kanye.
ancianita
(36,043 posts)I had Rob Kelly as a student back in the day. His lawyers are not making stuff up. His childhood was indeed terrible.
I knew back then of his hard home life, and why he was a clear cut case of arrested development. He never seemed at all mean to anyone, a pretty gentle person. Rob was polite in my Reading class. He also cut it often to be in the music room where he hung out with our locally famous chair of the music department.
I tried hard with him, was nice to him, but he had severe reading and thinking disabilities. He seemed to be emotionally distant, but he was well liked by the students at our school. After he dropped out of high school I was glad he could write songs, got music contracts, and I wished him well. I do believe he did what he did, and I also know that his ability to attract women limited him to only girls because he was mentally not beyond age 14.
Just thought I'd share. Don't jump on me as if I'm defending him. I'm not.
Haggard Celine
(16,844 posts)It's amazing he made it as far as he did. Too bad we can't lock up the people who made him like he is today. Look how many lives have been messed up as a result of his abuse! I hope that he and all of his victims eventually find some peace.
ancianita
(36,043 posts)I was amazed that he made it, too. And he really was surrounded by calculating shysters who kept him as a tool of their moneymaking.
Thanks for your post.
AkFemDem
(1,823 posts)This is a man who raped and sodomized teenagers, who rubbed shit on their faces to punish them. Who abused and utterly humiliated them. His little songs mean nothing in that context imo
Haggard Celine
(16,844 posts)I dont want him to ever get out. He cant be trusted in society.
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)The abuse I endured made me more empathetic to other victims. It sure as fuck didn't make me want to perpetuate the misery. I will never understand people who do. "He did what he did," and that's why he deserves jail.
ancianita
(36,043 posts)Did you ever seek therapy over it? I just thought I'd ask, though I'm aware it's none of my business. I did for what I endured in my childhood.
I also know he never got counseling or professional help. He got a lot of exploiting.
And yes, he does deserve jail.
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)Most kids never even tell anyone, let alone seek therapy.The primary reason that the public is not sufficiently aware of child sexual abuse as a problem is that 73% of child victims do not tell anyone about the abuse for at least a year. 45% of victims do not tell anyone for at least 5 years. Some never disclose. Nearly 70% of all reported sexual assaults (including assaults on adults) occur to children ages 17 and under. Youths have higher rates of sexual assault victimization than adults. In 2000, the sexual assault victimization rate for youths 12 to 17 was 2.3 times higher than for adults. Adult retrospective studies show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). This means there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S. https://cachouston.org/prevention/child-sexual-abuse-facts/ So Kelly is not unusual in that regard.
Yet the 42 million of us did not become monsters like Kelly.
artemisia1
(756 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)Hela
(440 posts)We lived about 8 blocks from his house in the south suburbs of Chicago and there were all kinds of rumors about what went on there, and warnings for young girls in the area about parties. He bought a mansion that was previously owned by our local McDonald's magnate (a perfectly nice mansion, mind you) and razed it to build his monstrosity.
I'm glad this jury convicted him, unlike the Chicago jury previously.
Beachnutt
(7,320 posts)SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,739 posts)Everyone else lost.
EnterwebsJohn
(87 posts)artemisia1
(756 posts)Mz Pip
(27,440 posts)But they dont sexually traumatize young women. He can rot in jail.
Soph0571
(9,685 posts)Good riddance
And hi love
BumRushDaShow
(128,905 posts)will hopefully have some consolation although it took decades for them to finally be heard and believed.
Good to see you too!!!
ripcord
(5,372 posts)There are still people who defend going to see Roman Polanski films.
sodissa
(16 posts)He did very bad things.
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)As Shaun King posted,
1. Its OUTRAGEOUS that this didnt happen a full TWENTY years ago when it was common knowledge that this man had abusive sexual relationships with underage children. What he literally did with Aaliyah was illegal. And was as public as public can be.
2. Power, fame, skill, and money protects SO many evil people. Protected this man for generations.
3. Had it not been for a documentary series on this man, hed still be on the streets. Period.
4. I dont wanna hear anything about racism here. This man was a pervert and a predator. And Harvey Weinstein is in prison too.