Renowned R&B singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges against him for sexually abusing children and women.
According to authorities, the singer of the hit "I believe i can fly" has been at the forefront of a sexual abuse scheme with children and women for two decades.
As the verdict was announced, Judge Ann Donnelly said the singer had forced his victims to do extremely serious things, against their will, many of them even getting sick.
For several weeks, judges heard how he trafficked women even between different US countries, taking advantage of his connections and fame. Assisted by managers, security guards and other members, for many years he sexually abused them.
The hearings also revealed how Kelly had forged documents to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 in 1994, seven years before the singer died in an accident. The certificate, discovered at the time, showed age of Aaliyah as 18 years old. The marriage was annulled a few months later.
His lawyers portrayed Kelly as growing up in poverty, in a family full of violence and suffering from sexual abuse from an early age.
The singer, portrayed by judges as a person raised in poverty, raped in the family and sexually abused at a very young age, told the court that his only wish is not to speak.
Kelly has been in custody since he was indicted in New York and Chicago in July 2019.
Source: BBC
