Months after he was convicted for sexual violations, R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, finally putting an end to a case that had dragged on for a while.
Thirty years would certainly please one of his victims, who has clamoured for at least 25 years in jail for the disgraced RnB singer of the “I Believe I Can Fly” fame.
Convicted in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes, R. Kelly had initially denied he sexually abused the ladies in question. But the court held that he actually used his power and influence as a celebrity to abuse women and children sexually.
As part of the sentencing yesterday, June 29, the presiding judge had denounced the singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, as having “indifference to human suffering.” Kelly, he said, taught the women he abused that love is enslavement and violence.
Kelly had avoided justice for years because of his celebrity status, said one of his victims, who also claimed that the singer was making so much money for very powerful people that they protected him.
Some of the singer’s victims have expressed relief over the sentencing. However, the singer’s attorneys have clarified that they will appeal the sentence.
