Famous singer, R.Kelly has been found guilty of racketeering in a trending sex-trafficking case after he was trailed by allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse that persisted for a long time.
Kelly has been in police custody and has been facing trial in New York for one count of lawlessness since he was officially charged in 2019, with 14 underlying behaviours which included sexual molestation of a child, kidnapping, bribery and sex trafficking charges. Also, he was charged with eight extra counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law which prohibits the transportation of people across state lines “for any immoral purpose.”
Though R.Kelly pleaded not guilty to every charge in the case and did not take the stand in his defense, prosecutors in the trial which bordered on the allegations of six people, have alleged that Kelly was a serial sexual predator that abused young women and underage girls and boys for over two decades.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York were successful in proving to a jury of seven men and five women that Kelly had been the leader of a criminal enterprise, that was luring girls, boys and women to the singer for his sexual satisfaction.
In a closing argument which lasted for two days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes accused Kelly and his cohorts of using strategies from “the predator playbook” to dominate his victims.
It was alleged that his strategies include caging victims in hotel rooms or his recording studio, dictating when they could eat and use the bathroom, and compelling them to abide by various “rules” like requesting they call him “Daddy.”
Fifty prosecution and defense witnesses took the stand in the course of the five-week trial, including victims that were identified as “Jane Does” in Kelly’s indictments. There were no fewer than 45 prosecution witnesses.
Kelly was found guilty of charges which include sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking involving six victims.
His sentencing in New York is scheduled to take place on May 4, 2022 and he faces a possible sentence of between 10 years to life in prison.
