R Kelly convicted of six counts on child abuse image charges in latest criminal trial
15.09.2022 - 14:41
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
R Kelly has been convicted of six out of 13 counts of child sexual abuse in his second federal trial.
The jury convicted the 55-year-old after a four-week court case in his hometown of Chicago, however the disgraced star was acquitted of fixing a state trial on child pornography charges in 2008. The R&B singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty on Wednesday of three counts of enticing minors for sex and three counts of producing child sexual imagery.
The jury did not find him guilty of obstructing justice related to his 2008 trial, which ended in acquittal. His two former associates and co-defendants - Milton ‘June’ Brown and Derrel McDavid - were also accused of fixing the 2008 trial but were acquitted of all charges.
Kelly's 2008 trial centred on a 30-minute video of him abusing a 14-year-old girl. The victim - known by the pseudonym "Jane" - declined to testify in court 14 years ago and jurors ultimately acquitted him on all counts.
But Jane, now 37, testified last month that she is the person in that footage. She said Kelly had sexually abused her hundreds of times before she turned 18. Jane previously denied that she was abused by Kelly, but has now claimed that he paid off her and her family in order to stay silent.
That tape and two others were shown to jurors during the trial as four other women came forward and accused the singer of abusing them as children, with over 30 witnesses testifying during the case.
During Monday's closing arguments - which featured graphic descriptions of child abuse - one juror suffered a panic attack. She was dismissed and replaced with an alternate juror. The jury deliberated for 11 hours before reaching the verdict.
Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Pozolo
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