Thursday, April 25, 2024

Jury finds R. Kelly guilty of sex crimes 

On Wednesday, the 12-person jury in Chicago convicted Mr Kelly of six out of the 13 charges levelled against him.

• September 14, 2022
Robert Sylvester Kelly popularly known as R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly popularly known as R. Kelly

A jury has found R&B singer R. Kelly guilty of sex crimes, including producing child sexual abuse imagery and coercing minors into sex acts.

On Wednesday, the 12-person jury in Chicago convicted Mr Kelly of six out of the 13 charges levelled against him. He was found guilty of coercing three minors into criminal sexual activity and producing three child sexual abuse videos. 

However, Mr Kelly was acquitted on several counts, including conspiring to tamper with his 2008 child pornography trial.

Prosecutors had alleged in Cook County Court that Mr Kelly conspired to obstruct justice during the 2008 trial by threatening and paying off a teenage girl and her family so she would not testify about a tape he recorded of him urinating on her during a sex act. 

His former associates, Derrell McDavid and Milton Brown, were also tried alongside Mr Kelly for their part in the scheme. Messrs McDavid and Brown were found not guilty on all charges on Wednesday.

The jury heard four weeks of testimony from over 30 witnesses, they also watched three sex tapes that prosecutors say show Mr Kelly sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter.    

During the trial, four women accused Mr Kelly of sexually abusing them when they were girls, including the central witness to the case, who testified under the alias “Jane”. 

Jane told the Jury that Mr Kelly began abusing her after becoming her godfather when she was only 14, and had sex with her hundreds of times between the ages of 14 and 18.

In June, He was sentenced to prison for 30 years for sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping and other sex-related crimes.

The six-week trial saw graphic testimonies from 11 accusers, nine women and two men, who described sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of the “Ignition” singer. The case relied on the accounts of six victims, five of whom testified. The sixth, singer Aaliyah, whom Mr Kelly illegally wed when she was 15, died in a plane crash in 2001

Last September, Mr Kelly was found guilty of multiple racketeering and sex trafficking charges based on sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, forced labor, and eight violations of the sex-trafficking statute. He was found guilty on all counts.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Argentines protesting budget cuts on education 

Education

Argentines protest budget cuts to public universities 

The protestors are being joined by professors and students with their union leaders.  

FRSC

Heading 3

FRSC collaborates with judiciary for speedy trial of drivers involved in road crashes 

“All drivers and vehicle owners who caused crashes on the roads would definitely face the wrath of the law.”

Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)

States

NDDC to engage youths in internship programmes

A new tech programme is set to be inaugurated. 

Tanzania national grid

Africa

Tanzania shuts down five hydro stations to reduce excess power on national grid

This is the first time the country will be shutting its hydroelectric stations over excess production.

Queue at filling station

Abuja

Fuel Scarcity: Motorists lament as long queues resurface in FCT

They appealed to the federal government to resolve whatever the issues were.