R. Kelly Convicted on Child Pornography Charges, But His Legal Troubles Are Far from Over
After an emotional month-long trial, an Illinois jury has found disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, real name Robert Kelly, guilty of child pornography. He is also found guilty of three counts of coercing a minor into sexual activity.
Among the counts he was found guilty of was the child pornography count of videotaping himself having sex with his 14-year-old goddaughter, "Jane." She was one of the star witnesses, and Kelly allegedly abused her and even coerced her out of testifying in 2008.
According to the Associated Press, Kelly's charges carry a minimum of 10 years in prison. After the verdicts were read, U.S. Attorney John Lausch spoke to the media and told reporters that the "I Believe I Can Fly" singer could face between 10 to 90 years in prison. He also stated that prosecutors will request that his sentence be served consecutive to the 30 years he was sentenced to in his New York racketeering and child trafficking case.
R. Kelly Acquitted of Several Charges
However, while he was found guilty of multiple crimes, the jury also acquitted Kelly of conspiring to obstruct justice in relation to intimidating Jane from testifying.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the jury also acquitted Kelly on at least one of the several child pornography counts against him. This was his alleged threesome with "Jane" and ex-girlfriend Lisa Van Allen, which he allegedly filmed. The jury found him "Not Guilty" on that count because while Van Allen and "Jane" testified that the event occurred and was videotaped, no actual videotape was presented of that act. However, prosecutors argued that Kelly's enablers successfully concealed the video.
READ MORE: R. Kelly Prison Sentence Compared to Ghislaine Maxwell's Jail Time: Twiterverse Slams Disparity
R. Kelly had two co-defendants in Milton "June" Brown and Derrel McDavid. However, unlike Kelly, the two were acquitted of all charges against them. McDavid, along with Kelly himself, was acquitted of obstructing the singer's 2002 Cook County case. Brown and McDavid were also acquitted of receiving child pornography.
All three defendants were all acquitted on all counts of their attempted cover-up of incriminating tapes while Kelly was awaiting his Cook County trial. This includes the scheme of pressuring Jane to keep quiet. This was because the defense successfully characterized prosecution witnesses Charles Freeman and Lisa Van Allen as liars and extortionists.
While the jury convicted Kelly of enticing "Jane," "Nia," and "Pauline" into sex while they were still minors, they acquitted the singer of enticing "Kelly" because her age at the time of their sexual encounter was challenged in court. Kelly testified that she was 16 in 1999, but the defense challenged this as she had already started working as a record-label intern when she met R. Kelly.
R. Kelly in More Legal Trouble After This Case
In his New York case earlier this year, a jury found Kelly guilty of multiple counts of racketeering and sex trafficking, including "grooming" a teenager and sexually abusing the late pop star Aaliyah when she was 13 or 14.
Looking forward, Vice News noted that Kelly is still facing even more legal battles in the future. He is still slated to face even more sex crime charges not only in Illinois but also in Minnesota. These cases are slated to proceed after the now-concluded Chicago trial.
READ MORE: R. Kelly Remains on Suicide Watch in Prison | Here's Why
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: R. Kelly convicted on many counts, acquitted of trial fixing - KSDK News