American musician Robert Sylvester Kelly popularly known as R. Kelly has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex crimes.
On Thursday, 23rd February 2023, R. Kelly was sentenced by a Federal Judge after a jury found he had produced three videos of himself sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter.
The 56-year-old musician is already serving a 30-year-prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York Federal Court.
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US District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber said in court Thursday that 19 years of the 20-year prison sentence would be served concurrently, or at the same time as his other sentence. One year would be served consecutively.
Also, prosecutors argued that a long term served only after the New York sentence could have erased any chance of Kelly getting out of prison alive.
They argued that their reason for asking for a long sentence is a singer’s lack of remorse as he would pose a danger to society if he is released.
With Thursday’s sentence, R. Kelly will serve not more than 31 years and will be eligible for release at around age 80.
In 2002, Kelly was indicted on child pornography charges for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with an unidentified underage girl, but he was acquitted in 2008.
Through the allegations, Kelly was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1990s and 2000s, known for hit songs ‘Bump N’ Grind,’ ‘Ignition (Remix)’ and ‘I Believe I Can Fly, which won him three Grammy Awards.
