US singer R Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex abuse
India Today
US singer and songwriter R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in jail after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
American singer and songwriter R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday after he was convicted for sexually abusing women and underage girls, and misusing his fame to lure them into his sex orbit.
The sentence was imposed nine months after Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges. The US District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn federal court said that the evidence showed the R&B singer’s “indifference to human suffering” and “sheer brutality” towards his victims.
"This case is not about sex. It's about violence and cruelty and control," Donnelly told Kelly, according to Reuters. "You left in your wake a trail of broken lives," the judge added.
The court jury convicted the singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, after hearing that he used his team of managers to meet girls and keep them obedient. This operation, prosecutors said, amounted to a criminal enterprise.
Several victims told the court and the singer in the court that he preyed upon them and misled them. “You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” said a survivor, directly addressing Kelly.
Another woman said that the singer victimised her when she was 17 and went to a concert.“I was afraid, naive and didn’t know how to handle the situation,” she said.
The Grammy-winning songwriter did not give a statement and did not show any reaction on hearing the penalty, which also included a fine of USD 100,000. He denied sexual abuse accusations. After the sentence, his lawyer said that Kelly was devastated by the sentence but he would appeal.
