After 25 years of accusations of abuse of women and minors, the American singer R. Kelly was found guilty on Monday of the charges of sex trafficking and criminal association.
A jury of seven men and five women reached the verdict on the second day of deliberations.
The trial against the R&B star lasted seven weeks and took place in New York.
The prosecution argued that the managers and assistants of the musician, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly,
helped him meet girls and force them to remain silent
about how they were abused, which meets the description of a criminal organization.
Kelly, 54, was found guilty of abuses against five identified victims, including the late singer Aaliyah, whom he illegally married in 1994, when she was just 15 years old.
Some of Kelly's victims had been outspoken about how they suffered at the singer's hands in an explosive 2019 documentary titled
Surviving R. Kelly.
R. Kelly, Tekashi69 and Bill Cosby fear catching COVID-19 in prison.
March 27, 202000: 33
That documentary placed her case in the context of the #MeToo movement and gave voice to accusers whose stories had previously been ignored, in her view, because they were black women.
Other charges he was found guilty of Monday include sexual exploitation of a minor, bribery and extortion.
The artist faces a possible 10-year sentence to life in prison.
The sentence is expected to be read on May 4, 2022.
In addition to this ruling in New York, Kelly will face a second federal trial on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Illinois.
The artist was born in that state, in the city of Chicago, on January 8, 1957. He achieved success in the 90s with his song
I believe I can fly
, an anthem of the R&B genre.
His lawyers spent much of the process arguing that the women who denounced their client were "
groupies
[fans] dying to be with him."
Deveraux Cannick, the lead defender, said he was disappointed by the verdict.
"I think I'm even more disappointed that the government brought the case in the first place given all the inconsistencies," he said.
Kelly has been behind bars without bail since 2019. His trial had been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/SZZX52FQXJC7VOYDU2DX27J45Q.jpg)
