Gregory Robinson
A judge has sentenced disgraced singer R. Kelly to one additional year in jail for padophilia charges.
He is already serving a 30-year prison stretch for sexual abuse offences which span decades.
On Thursday (23 February) US District Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced the 56-year-old in a Chicago federal courtroom to 20 years behind bars.
The Judge confirmed that 19 of those years would be served concurrent to his previous sentence in New York and one year would be served consecutively.
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The charges for which he was sentenced today relate to child pornography and enticement of a minor.
The sentence given to the former R&B performer - whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly - is far less than what prosecutors and his victims had sought. They argued that the Grammy-winner should spend the rest of his life behind bars.
However his defence attorneys said he is already facing an effective life sentence due to the existing 30-year term. They also pointed out in court documents that the ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ singer has diabetes.
In September 2022, Kelly was convicted on three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity..
The federal trial which took place in Chicago in September was based on allegations from five minors who prosecutors claimed were abused by Kelly in the late 1990s and that he made explicit videos with four of them.
A woman, now 37 years old, spoke in federal court under the pseudonym 'Jane' and testified that the once beloved artist began engaging in sex acts with her when she was just 14. She testified that they had sex ‘hundreds’ of times starting from the age of 15 and before she turned 18.
He was convicted in 2021 and ordered to serve a 30-year prison term in 2021 for racketeering and sex trafficking in a New York federal court.
Prosecutors said in a filing: “Robert Kelly is a serial sexual predator who, over the course of many years, specifically targeted young girls and went to great lengths to conceal his abuse of Jane and other minor victims.
“To this day, and even following the jury verdict against him, Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes.
"Robert Kelly is a serial sexual predator who, over the course of many years, specifically targeted young girls and went to great lengths to conceal his abuse of Jane and other minor victims.
“To this day, and even following the jury verdict against him, Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes.”