Former American recording artiste Robert Sylvester Kelly, professionally known as R. Kelly, has been sentenced to an additional 20 years imprisonment.
The United State District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber sentenced the 56-year-old to 20 years in jail on Thursday after he was found guilty by a jury of child pornography and enticement of a minor.
Kelly, who is already serving a federal 30-year jail term after three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity in a federal trial in 2022, was found guilty of sexual molestation of a minor.
In the latest guilty verdict, the prosecutions produced concrete video evidence showing the singer sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter.
The U.S. District Judge, handing out the judgement on Thursday, sentenced R. Kelly to 20 years imprisonment, in which 19 of those 20 years would be served concurrently with his earlier sentence instead of the 25 years sentence the prosecutors had demanded. While the remaining year would be served consecutively or after that sentence is completed.
According to the prosecutors, ”Robert Kelly is a serial sexual predator who, over the years, targeted young girls and went to great lengths to conceal his abuse of Jane and other minor victims. Following the jury verdict against him, to this day, Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes.”
The singer, however, remained silent for almost the entirety of the sentencing hearing and also refused to speak on his behalf.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
