The criminal proceedings in New York, which started Aug. The jury of seven men and five women got the case Friday and deliberated for nine hours. Daniel Arkin is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on popular culture and the entertainment industry, particularly film and television. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.
Politics Covid U. News World Opinion Business. Share this —. Follow NBC News. Kelly found guilty in racketeering and sex trafficking trial Sept. By Daniel Arkin and Adam Reiss. Kelly verdict Sept. Why applying federal racketeering charges in R. Kelly sex trafficking case was so complex Sept. R Kelly convicted: Everybody knew the allegations - so why has it taken 30 years to get justice?
R Kelly found guilty of racketeering and trafficking in sex abuse trial. Aaliyah was 15, Kelly 27 when they wed in a secret ceremony following the release of her debut album Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, which he produced. During the trial, the singer's former tour manager Demetrius Smith gave evidence about the relationship - telling the court he bribed a government official to get a fake ID card.
A marriage licence listed Aaliyah as Prosecutors said Kelly wanted to use the marriage - later annulled by Aaliyah's parents - to protect himself from criminal charges relating to having sex with a minor and prevent the singer from testifying against him.
Mr Smith repeatedly told the judge during his evidence that he was uneasy about taking the stand, but did not give a specific reason. However, after further questioning, he revealed how Kelly came to him during a tour and told him Aaliyah was "in trouble" and that he needed to get home. Mr Smith said they rushed back to Chicago after a concert in another city so they could arrange the marriage, which was meant "to protect him and Aaliyah". Later in the trial, another witness told the court that she saw Kelly in a "sexual situation" with Aaliyah in around - when Aaliyah would have been aged 13 or The witness, a former backing dancer for Kelly, also said that he had sex with her when she was Aaliyah later died in a plane crash in , aged In January , Kelly was asked about his relationship with the young star in an interview with GQ, but did not comment.
Kelly's trial in New York came after years of suspicions and accusations against him. Many of the allegations were featured in the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R Kelly, which aired early in While some of the witnesses were not identified in the media, and were referred to as "Jane Does" in court, Jerhonda Pace, who is now 28, was one of the women who appeared in the programme and has spoken out against the singer publicly.
She was the first accuser to give evidence during the trial , telling jurors that Kelly invited her to his mansion and ordered her to take off her clothes when she was a year-old virgin, and a member of his fan club, in When she told Kelly she was a virgin, he said that was "good" and told her he wanted to "train her" sexually, she said.
Ms Pace told the jury he knew her age as she had shown him identification, and ordered her to call him "Daddy". She said they saw each other for another six months, but Kelly grew more and more controlling and would become violent when she broke what she called "Rob's rules". She recalled one time when "he slapped me and choked me until I passed out". Afterwards, he spat in her face and forced her to have oral sex, she said.
Ms Pace also told the court that Kelly would often record their sexual encounters and sometimes ordered her to wear pigtails and "dress like a girl scout". It was not just Kelly's victims who gave evidence in court, with former employees describing the things they saw while working for the singer, too.
Anthony Navarro, a trained audio engineer who said he worked for the singer for more than two years until , told the court that girls stayed at Kelly's mansion in Chicago for long periods of time but could not eat or leave without his permission.
The year-old singer, who was born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was accused of running a Chicago-based criminal enterprise that recruited women and children and sexually exploited and coerced them. Multiple witnesses said Kelly had forced them to obey perverse and brutal whims when they were underage in a scheme that stretched back more than two decades.
Kelly, perhaps best known for the smash hit I Believe I Can Fly, faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for 4 May. He denied any wrongdoing.
The allegations against Kelly received wide exposure after the Lifetime documentary Surviving R Kelly, which explored claims that an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades. Jerhonda Pace, one of the six main accusers in the trial, appeared in the Lifetime documentary and was the first to testify in the trial , about the relationship she had with Kelly when she was She described how Kelly was soon inviting her over to his house and said that they had had sex multiple times over the course of about half a year.
Though she initially told Kelly she was 19, she disclosed to him that she was actually
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