R. Kelly appears during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois. Photo: Antonio PEREZ / POOL / AFP
R Kelly, 55, is due again before court on charges he possessed child sexual abuse images.
His scheduled August 15 hearing will be the second time he faces allegations linked to such images after he was previously acquitted in 2008 on similar charges. Kelly – real name Robert Sylvester Kelly – has pleaded not guilty.
It comes after the ’90s R and B superstar was sentenced on Wednesday (29.06.22) to 30 years in prison at the US District Court in New York for masterminding a scheme to entice and sexually exploit young aspiring singers and underage children.
One of his victims, identified only by her first name of Sonja, has hailed the ‘Bump n’ Grind’ singer’s sentence as “spot on”.
She has told the Los Angeles Times she endured years of intimidation from people in the singer’s circle.
Sonja added: “I’ve been followed, I’ve been approached at networking events. It happened a few different times.”
She added she immediately got away from the person who was talking to her on each occasion and went “off the grid for a few days.”
Sonja said about Kelly’s sentence: “Thirty years is spot on for me. I have been enduring this for almost two decades. I am very happy with the sentence. Very happy.”
Kelly was branded “the pied piper of R and B” during his trial as he was faced with several of his victims who detailed his “deplorable and inexplicable” abuse during impact sentences ahead of his sentencing.
It followed his conviction last year by a jury on multiple counts of racketeering, relating to bribery and forced labour.
The musician was also found to have violated anti-sex trafficking law, the Mann Act.
Sentencing, Judge Ann Donnelly said Kelly had used his “minions” to “lure young fans into your orbit”.
The singer, who denied all charges and plans to appeal his 30-year sentence, was found guilty on all nine counts against him after a six-week trial in Brooklyn and did not appear to react as his sentence was passed.