On Wednesday, American R&B singer and producer R. Kelly was found guilty of child pornography and inciting sexual incitement to minors: he was sentenced to a total of six counts of up to 20 years in prison. Instead, he was acquitted of the other seven charges against him, including obstruction of justice: R. Kelly was accused of trying to hide evidence of his abuse. Recently, the singer was sentenced to another 30 years in prison in another trial for sexual exploitation and conspiracy.
The 13 charges related to incidents that date back more than 20 years and were the focus of another trial in 2008 after a video circulated showing the singer, now 55, having sex with a girl aged 14 and over. On that occasion, R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges because the girl who accused him did not testify at the trial. But last month the same girl – who is now 37 and goes by the alias “Jane” – decided to testify, declaring that she was the girl in the video and accusing R. Kelly of abusing her hundreds of times underage. In addition to her, four other women had made the same allegations against the singer.
R. Kelly was convicted of molesting three of the five women who accused him. Among other things, some of the videos showing R. Kelly having sexual relations with the girl known as Jane, with particularly demeaning and degrading practices, were shown during the trial (one of the videos shows the singer ordering her to lie on the floor and then urinate on them). R. Kelly was also charged with crimes related to sexual abuse and pimping in Illinois and Minnesota.