R. Kelly Guilty of Child Pornography in Illinois Federal Trial
A federal jury in Chicago on Wednesday (Sept. 14) convicted disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly on child pornography charges for making videotapes of himself sexually abusing his then-14-year-old goddaughter decades ago. The singer was acquitted on charges that he conspired to obstruct justice in his 2002 Cook County case, per The Chicago Tribune.
Kelly was found guilty of three of the first four counts of the indictment, which charged the singer with the sexual exploitation of “Jane” for the purpose of producing child pornography. He was acquitted on a fourth count. The charges he was found guilty of carry a minimum of 10 years in prison.
In addition to being acquitted on the fourth count of sexual exploitation of a minor, Kelly and both his codefendants, Milton “June” Brown and Derrel McDavid, were also acquitted on charges that they conspired to receive child pornography. Kelly and McDavid were also acquitted on charges they conspired to obstruct justice in Kelly’s 2002 Cook County case.
Kelly was found guilty on three out of five counts related to the enticement of a minor.
The verdict comes 14 years after Kelly’s acquittal on similar charges in Cook County. Those charges were based on a single video of Kelly allegedly abusing Jane in the hot tub room of his former home on West George Street in the late 1990s, per the outlet.
Kelly had already been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a jury in Brooklyn convicted him of racketeering and sex trafficking charges last year.
