Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images R. Kelly appeared during a Chicago court hearing on September 17, 2019.
BROOKLYN: New York R. Kelly was found guilty Monday of federal crimes after he faced allegations for sexually abusing dozens young victims over a period of more than 25-years.
Kelly was in Brooklyn federal court for over a month on one count racketeering charge and eight counts of violating Mann Act, a federal law that addresses sex trafficking. Federal prosecutors charged Kelly with running an enterprise that he used to exploit his star power, preying on young girls and women underage and even two male victims. Kelly was found guilty by all charges after nine hours of deliberation. Kelly is now facing decades in prison and will be sentenced on May 4, 2022. Kelly was charged federally after BuzzFeed News published a Chicago journalist Jim DeRogatis' investigation in 2017. It revealed that Kelly's parents told police that Kelly was holding their daughters against will in a sex-cult. Kelly is now facing decades in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced May 4, 2022.
Jane Rosenberg / Reuters Federal Prosecutor Elizabeth Geddes points out R. Kelly in closing arguments at Kelly's trial. This was Sept. 22, 2021.
The government presented a detailed and extensive case against Kelly to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They brought hundreds of pieces of evidence, 45 witnesses, including 11 victims. Many of them testified through tears about Kelly's abuse of them sexually, emotionally and verbally, some for many years. Although he was charged directly with crimes relating to six women, including Aaliyah (the late R&B singer Kelly), the government used evidence to show that Kelly had abused other women to argue that Kelly's actions were racketeering. "It's time to hold the defendant accountable for the pain he caused each of his victims: Aaliyah Stephanie, Sonja Jerhonda Jane, Faith," said Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Geddes in her closing argument. She named each of the women Kelly was accused of abusing. She continued, "It's now that Robert Kelly, the defendant, must pay for his crimes." He should be tried and convicted. Prosecutors claim Kelly's history of abuse dates back at most to the 1990s. Many witnesses spoke out about the strict rules Kelly made, which included not allowing them to leave the room without his permission. They kept their communications under strict control, separating them from their families and friends. They had to wear baggy clothes to hide their bodies from Kelly, whom they had to call Daddy. Many of their stories were mirrored by each other's testimony. Broken rules could result in punishments, such as spankings or being kept in a room for several days. Many witnesses claimed Kelly forced them to have sex with his girlfriends at will. He often filmed the encounters and directed their movements. Kelly, who had genital herpes from at least 2000, testified that his doctor of many years knew he infected many of them without notifying them. As a form of blackmail, Kelly was required to send collateral letters to both victims and employees, containing embarrassing lies, such as that Kelly had stolen from them or been molested in their homes by family members. Kelly has been indicted several times since the late 90s but has not faced any criminal consequences for sexual abuse. Kelly is currently awaiting trial in New York on federal and state criminal charges. He also faces Minnesota charges. He was not found guilty of child sexual abuse in 2008. However, a video he allegedly had with and urinated on a 14 year-old girl was shown to him. Her family and she did not testify at the trial. Jurors also questioned whether the video showed the abuse of an underage child. Secret settlements were made to cover up other allegations of sexual misconduct. As it was a long-standing secret, Kelly, then 27, married R&B singer Aaliyah in 1994 when she was only 15.
Fred Duval/ FilmMagic Aaliyah at Virgin Megastore, London 1995, when she turned 16
This trial revealed many details about Kelly's relationship with Aaliyah. She died in a plane accident when she was 22. Angela, a witness, testified that Kelly started sexually abusing her at age 14 or 15. She went on to become a backup singer for Aaliyah as well as tour with Kelly. Angela claimed that Kelly performed oral sex on Aaliyah when she was just 13 or 14. Aaliyah, then 15, married Kelly. This claim was long denied by both of them, even though the marriage license was published in media. The details of the marriage were not known for years. Kelly's former manager Demetrius Smith testified that Aaliyah was having a pregnancy crisis and Kelly believed marrying her would shield him from any legal consequences. Jane, a pseudonym used for another victim, testified Kelly claimed that he married Aaliyah in order to allow her to have an abortion without having her parents informed. Their marriage was null and void months later. Smith confessed to bribing Kelly's welfare officer employee for $500 cash in exchange for an illegal marriage. This fake ID stated that Aaliyah was 18 years old. Nathan Edmond, the minister who married them both, said that he did not know either singer and was only doing so as a favor for a mutual friend. Kelly left immediately to go on tour, and the ceremony lasted just 10 minutes. The now-adult woman who testified that Kelly raped a 17 year-old girl in his dressing area after a show a few days later. Multiple women who testified said they first had sexual contact Kelly as teenagers. Kelly claimed that this was because they were 14-year-old fans who came to support him. A little over a year later, at the age of 16, Kelly and Jerhonda began a six-month-long sexual relationship. Kelly entered the room one day and Jerhonda didn't acknowledge him quickly enough. He then flew into a rage. Kelly grabbed Jerhonda and choked her until she was unconscious. He then spat on her and forced her to have oral sex with him. After he had ejaculated on Kelly, she said she wiped his face with a T shirt. Prosecutors proved that the DNA match was present at her trial.
Jane Rosenberg / Reuters Stephanie falls apart during R. Kelly’s trial in a sketch courtroom, Aug. 26, 2021.
Jane shared three days of disturbing testimony on her five-year affair with Kelly. It began in 2015, when Jane was only 17. She gave three days of disturbing testimony about her five-year relationship with Kelly. It began in 2015, when she was just 17. The jury was presented with the video and other evidence. One recording contains audio of a woman moaning and saying: It makes my pussy too wet to play with my shit!
Multiple witnesses have stated that Kelly used threats to keep a culture silence. Sonja, a former radio intern, testified that she was kept in a recording studio room for several days, starved and then sexually assaulted. She said her employees had copied information from her phone and made her sign two NDAs. Before she could leave, they told her not to feign with Kelly. Faith, who was featured in Surviving R. Kelly testified that Kelly's employee approached her with a file of nude pictures Kelly had taken of herself and threatened to leak them if she continued with the series. The same photos were posted on Facebook a week later. Jacquelyn Kasulis, the acting US Attorney, praised the victims' courage in sharing their painful and intimate details in open court. She said that the guilty verdict wouldn't have been possible without them and acknowledged the risks they took by speaking out. She said, "No one deserves the things they suffered at his hands or the threats and harassment that they faced telling the truth about the events." Many people showed up almost every day to the trial as R. Kelly fans, a small but dedicated group. They would play his music in a park near the courthouse and then write Free R. Kelly on the sidewalk with chalk. Due to COVID safety protocols, the public and media could view the trial from a remote location. During court proceedings, supporters would often interrupt to insult witnesses and accuse them of lying and then mutter support for the defense. One supporter was reported for sexual harassment by another and one of the supporters was arrested.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters R. Kelly's tribute is in chalk on a path outside Brooklyn Federal Court, Aug. 26, 2021.
