R. Kelly Found Guilty On 6 Counts Of Child Pornography In Federal Trial
R. Kelly has been found guilty of child sex crimes in his Chicago federal trial. According to CNN, the disgraced singer was convicted on three of four counts of production of child pornography and three of five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Kelly was found not guilty on all charges related to a conspiracy, as well as two counts of receiving child pornography.
“If this jury concluded that he was guilty on the first three counts, would they care enough to consider the evidence on the rest? And they demonstrated that they did,” expressed Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean after the verdict. “They did their job. They looked at each count separately.”
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The jury deliberated for 10 hours after hearing three weeks of testimony, including first-hand accounts from several victims. Kelly’s co-defendants, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, were acquitted of all charges. With each child pornography count, Kelly faces a sentence of up to 20 years. With each enticement charge, he faces up to 10 years, according to CBS Chicago.
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The trial surrounded the 2008 child pornography case against the singer, with the teenage victim now testifying as one of the star witnesses. Identified in court as “Jane,” the 37-year-old admitted to being in the leaked video showcasing explicit activities that led to his prior arrest. At the time, she and her family denied she was in the video.
“We are particularly pleased that Robert Kelly is finally, finally being held responsible for the abuse of his 14-year-old goddaughter,” announced John R. Lausch Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, according to the New York Times.
“Their courage to come into this courtroom and to stand before the jury and to reveal the unspeakable things that that man did to them — and then videotaped them — it’s remarkable,” added Lausch, speaking on Kelly’s victims. “Their courage in coming forward, their perseverance, and their resolve to be here years later to tell their story is truly remarkable, and these guilty verdicts vindicate them.”
Kelly’s latest conviction comes just under a year after he was found guilty of nine counts of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges brought against him in New York City. In June of this year, he was sentenced to 30 years for his crimes.
Although the Chicago trial has concluded, Kelly’s legal woes are not complete. According to CBS News, he still faces a pending trial in Cook County in sexual assault and sexual abuse cases involving four women, three of whom were girls at the time of the abuse. Kelly also faces charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Minnesota.
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