After being sentenced to prison time a few months ago, R Kelly has been now found guilty of child pornography. The record producer and singer has been convicted on federal charges for abusing young girls including his 14-year-old goddaughter. The month-long trial in Chicago ended with this decision after videos of himself abusing his goddaughter surfaced online.

The victim, who is now 37 years old, was one of the girls who testified against the accused singer. Kelly was charged with 13 counts, out of which he was found guilty of six of them. These included three child pornography offenses. The jury announced their decision after reflecting on all the testimonies for almost 11 hours starting on Tuesday afternoon.

For the uninitiated, one such crime alone harbors an obligatory minimum sentence of five to ten years in Chicago. Kelly was already sentenced to serve 30 years behind bars, and now with the fresh developments, his term is likely to increase. He was also found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering in a separate Brooklyn federal case earlier.

The prosecution contended that R Kelly was “a sexual predator”. During the trial, Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Pozolo told the jurors, “Robert Kelly abused many girls over many years. He committed horrible crimes against children…All these years later, the hidden side of Robert Kelly has come out.”

Back in June, R Kelly was found guilty of all nine charges he faced in September 2021. This included the most serious, racketeering. His lawyers had appealed for a lighter sentence with a maximum of roughly 17 years but to no avail. The majority of accusers, in this case, were Black women — 45 witnesses, including 11 alleged victims, came to the stand to discuss his pattern of crimes. 

(Featured Image Credits: Getty Images)