R. Kelly found guilty on all counts in sex trafficking trial

Popular American singer R. Kelly has been found guilty of sexual abuse which includes the abuse of women, boys, and girls for decades, and will be spending the rest of his life in prison.

The disgraced music star was convicted on Monday, September 27, 2021, on all nine counts including racketeering and violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of “any woman or girl” across state lines for an “immoral purpose.”

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about nine hours across two days before reaching their unanimous verdict.

“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot. This case is about a predator,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said at the beginning of the case.

One of his victims was R&B singer Aaliyah, who Kelly illegally wed in a Chicago hotel room in 1994 when she was 15 years old. Kelly relied on his entourage for the illicit nuptials to move forward, prosecutors showed.

Monday’s verdict in federal court in Brooklyn comes just over 2 years after Kelly was arrested in Chicago for multiple federal sex crimes in 2 different states. Kelly’s legal team called a handful of ex-Kelly employees and associates to take the stand in an effort to discredit allegations the singer sexually abused women, girls, and boys.