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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Scarlett O'Toole

R Kelly sentenced to just ONE extra year in jail for federal paedophilia charges

Rapper R Kelly has been sentenced to just one more year in prison for federal paedophilia charges.

The 56-year-old was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in jail for his convictions of child pornography and the enticement of minors for sex.

19 of these years will be served concurrently with the 30-year sentence he is currently serving for his 2021 conviction in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking.

The final year will be served consecutively in a Chicago federal prison.

Prosecutors had asked US District Judge Harry Leinenweber to sentence the singer, real name Robert Kelly, to an additional 25 years behind bars.

R Kelly has been sentenced (Getty Images)

They had argued that "the only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life."

Defence lawyers said he is already facing an effective life sentence with his New York conviction and pointed out that Kelly has diabetes.

In court on Thursday, the judge determined that Kelly's actions did not merit a sex trafficking sentencing enhancement and said that Kelly did not use fear to woo underage girls for sex.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison (AFP via Getty Images)

"The [government's] whole theory of grooming, was sort of the opposite of fear of bodily harm," the judge told the court.

"It was the fear of lost love, lost affections [from Kelly]. It just doesn’t seem to me that it rises to the fear of bodily harm."

Prosecutors say Kelly's crimes against children and his lack of remorse justified a stiffer sentence.

Two of the rapper's accusers also asked the judge to punish him harshly.

In a statement read aloud in court, a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane said she had lost her early aspirations to become a singer herself and her hopes for fulfilling relationships.

"I have lost my dreams to Robert Kelly," the statement said. "I will never get back what I lost to Robert Kelly. I have been permanently scarred by Robert."

Kelly was convicted by jurors in Chicago last year on six counts out of 13. These included three counts of child porn and three of enticement of minors for sex.

The singer, real name Robert Kelly, was acquitted of a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge, which accused him of fixing his state child pornography trial in 2008, as well as a fourth pornography count.

Kelly was found not guilty on all three counts of conspiring to receive child pornography and for two more enticement charges.

* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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