R. Kelly‘s spectacular fall from grace is complete after the embattled singer was found guilty in New York on all charges related to sexual assault on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
The twelve jurors — seven men and five women — deliberated for nine hours over two days before finding the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner, 54, guilty on all nine counts, according to Buzzfeed. This included charges of racketeering, human trafficking, obstruction of justice, kidnapping and the Mann Act, which is the transportation of minors across state lines for immoral purposes.
Included was the charge related to illegally marrying the late beloved singer Aaliyah when she was just 15 years old and Kelly was 27.
“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant Department of Justice Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said in her opening statement in August 2021. “This case is about a predator.”
The prosecution set out to prove that Robert Sylvester Kelly was a “predator” by calling 45 witnesses to detail graphic and often harrowing tales of abuse, both sexual and physical, during the month-long trial. Among the witnesses were people who corroborated the prosecution’s case that Kelly leveraged his international star power to convince a coterie of employees to help recruit underage girls — and some teen boys — into his wicked web of sexual exploitation.
The case against Kelly began with the debut of the explosive Lifetime documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” that not only outlined in excruciating detail the abuse, but also questioned how Kelly escaped prison during his first trial in 2003.
Kelly is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5, 2022, and faces 10 years to life on the federal level. He is not expected to be released from custody as he is also facing a multiplicity of state charges in Illinois.
