Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Siobhan Macdonald

R Kelly convicted of six counts on child abuse image charges in latest criminal trial

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 described how the video shows Kelly urinating on the girl. "That degrading act is forever captured on that video," she said, adding: "That abuse is forever memorialised."

"Who does that?" she continued. "Who uses a 14-year-old child to film a video like this? This man. Robert Kelly."

After the verdict was read Kelly's lawyer Jennifer Bonjean criticised prosecutors, who she said had "charged counts that they couldn't win". She added that jurors had done their jobs by acquitting Kelly of half the charges.

"Obviously we are not celebrating a win, but are happy the jury looked at each count," said Ms Bonjean.

At Kelly's New York trial last September, jurors heard how he trafficked women for sexual abuse between different US states, assisted by managers, security guards and other members of his entourage.

The court also heard last year how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah, when she was just 15, in 1994. The certificate, which was leaked at the time, listed Aaliyah's age as 18, before the marriage was annulled months later.

He is still facing state charges of aggravated sexual abuse in Illinois and prostitution and solicitation charges in Minnesota.

Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.