R. Kelly Convicted On Federal Child Pornography Charges

Disgraced R&B star R. Kelly has got his troubles piling on for him.

The singer was recently found guilty of federal child pornography charges after a month-long trial in Chicago. Kelly is now facing several decades in sentencing in addition to his previous accrued jail time of 30 years from sexual-related and federal racketeering offenses.

During his trial in Chicago, the jury heard many damming testimonies, including seeing clips of Kelly molesting his 14-year-old goddaughter, now 37. Following the guilty verdict, Kelly still faces sex offense charges in Illinois and Minnesota. Those cases will be addressed at a later time.

Keep reading to learn more.

On Wednesday, Kelly was given the guilty verdict on federal child pornography charges for recording himself molesting his 14-year-old goddaughter.

Per New York Post, the entire jury deliberation was said to have lasted 11 hours as they sought to pass a verdict on the 13 counts of charges the disgraced singer faced. In the end, Kelly was found guilty of three child porn charges alongside three other offenses.

The statutory minimum sentence for each of the child porn charges is five to ten years in Chicago, implying that Kelly is looking at a possible jail time between 15 to 30 years for the child porn charges alone.

In reaching their decision, the jury found Kelly not guilty of the conspiracy allegation that he had influenced his 2008 state trial result, in which he was exonerated of all charges relating to child pornography. The jury also cleared him of three counts of conspiracy to get child pornography as well as two additional charges of inducement.

During the month-long trial, which started in mid-August, jury members saw sickening videos that showed Kelly sexually abusing the 14-year-old girl — the same one that was the centerpiece of the 2008 trial.

Known as "Jane," in the court documents, the victim, who is currently 37 years old, also testified in court against the singer. According to her, Kelly had intercourse with her "innumerable times," occasionally with the other underage females whom he had urged her to find for his pleasure.

Three more women's allegations that Kelly sexually assaulted them when they were still minors were part of the testimony that the jury also heard. The jury also heard testimony from a former Chicago police investigator who had looked into the iconic footage in the early 2000s and said that Mr. Kelly's Chicago house matched the home in the video.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that the "I Believe I Can Fly "singer was "a sexual predator" who had used his popularity to prey on young girls and videotaped the abuse for his lewd personal pleasure.

"Robert Kelly abused many girls over many years," Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Pozolo argued. "He committed horrible crimes against children. … All these years later, the hidden side of Robert Kelly has come out."

"That child, who had no prior sexual experiences in her life, was forced to lay on that floor while that man sitting right over there urinated on her," Pozolo also said, referring to the video evidence. "That degrading act is forever captured on that video. That abuse is forever memorialized."

In response, Kelly's defense counsel, attorney Jennifer Bonjean portrayed the prosecution witnesses as "extortionists," claiming they had in the past sought financial reward from the disgraced singer. She also labeled some of the witnesses as "perjurers," pointing out that some had been granted immunity by the prosecutors.

As reported on by The Blast, Kelly's sentencing follows a 30-year jail term imposed on the "Ignition" singer in June after he was convicted in a different federal case in Brooklyn.

Accusations that the disgraced musician was the head of a criminal organization that had engaged in acts of bribery, abduction, and forced labor led to his conviction on one count of racketeering. In addition, he was found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking law violations under the Mann Act.

Both Kelly's Brooklyn case and his current trial in Chicago had many parallels, including witnesses' testimonies that claimed Kelly had recruited them for sexual reasons despite knowing about their young ages. With his Chicago trial seemingly over, Kelly still faces sex crime charges in Illinois and Minnesota that will be heard later.