R Kelly Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For Sex Crimes And Racketeering

Multiplatinum R&B singer R Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison following his conviction for exploiting his stardom to lure women and underage girls for sex. 

The sentence comes 9 months after the trial which saw him convicted of racketeering and sex crimes. The accusations had haunted the singer for nearly two decades.

The judge, Ann Donnelly of Brooklyn Federal Court described Kelly as indifferent "to human suffering” and that the evidence presented showcased his "sheer brutality" towards victims.

“This case is not about sex. It’s about violence and cruelty and control, you left in your wake a trail of broken lives,” Donnelly told Kelly.

Despite repeatedly denying claims of sexual assault, Kelly did not speak at his sentencing. He plans to appeal his conviction.

Allegations of Kelly abusing young girls began in the 1990s, however widespread conversation about the misconduct didn't arise until after the #MeToo movement.

The Kelly saga reached its peak publicity with the release of documentary series, Surviving R Kelly. 

Kelly's lawyers have argued that he should not get more than 10 years in prison due to his traumatic childhood, which involved "severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.”

His lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean said that “He’s a human being. He feels what other people are feeling,”

“But that doesn’t mean that he can accept responsibility in the way that the government would like him to and other people would like him to. Because he disagrees with the characterisations that have been made about him.”

One survivor outside the court said, “There wasn’t a day in my life, up until this moment, that I actually believed that the judicial system would come through for black and brown girls."