Disgraced R&B legend R. Kelly, 54, sat motionless in a New York courtroom on Monday as he was found guilty on sex trafficking and violation of the RICO Act. The “Half On A Baby” singer is now the latest predator to be convicted of violating the Mann Act.
It took the jury just two days to come back with guilty verdicts on all nine counts. Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented three of the six victims that testified, told CNN Kelly was the worst predator she’s ever faced off with.
“First, he used the power of his celebrity to recruit vulnerable underage girls for the purpose of sexually abusing them. These were not May-October relationships, which is what his defense attorney wanted the jury to believe — these were crimes against children and some adults,” Allred posited.
It was a trial full of sordid tales of Kelly’s elaborate system of managers, security personnel, and various handlers used to trap young and often under-aged women into servitude. The convictions include sexual exploitation of a child and bribery.
The verdicts confirm long held claims by his victims that the singer would lock young girls away in rooms in his mansion and make sex tapes of himself having sex with them, only to use those tapes to blackmail them in order to keep his victims in bondage.
The trial also confirmed the long held belief the “12 Play” author did indeed have herpes. Testimony throughout proved R. Kelly slept with an untold number of young women and girls, knowingly exposing them to the lifelong venereal disease.
R. Kelly faces decades in federal prison. His attorney did not immediately say he would appeal the verdict when asked. The singer is due to be sentenced on May 4th, 2022. Until the next time it drips….
