- R Kelly’s appeal to quash his 20-year jail sentence for child sex attacks in Chicago was rejected and denied by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Kelly’s attorneys argued that the charges were filed after the statute of limitations had expired and that the sentence was unduly harsh, but these claims were not accepted by the court.
- Kelly is required to serve 20 years in prison for enticing minors into sexual activity, with one year of that sentence to be served after he completes a separate 30-year sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York.
- The remaining 19 years in the Chicago case will be served concurrently with his New York sentence, making him eligible for release from prison only when he is over 79 years old.
R. Kelly, the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, has lost his bid to quash a 20-year jail sentence for child sex attacks in Chicago. The federal appeals court’s decision to uphold the conviction and sentence was based on a thorough review of the case, including the arguments made by Kelly’s legal team and the evidence presented during the trial.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child porn and three charges of enticement of minors for sex. His legal team argued that the statute of limitations for child sex prosecutions in Illinois, which was shorter and had expired, should have applied to his case. They also contended that charges involving one accuser should have been separated from those involving three other accusers due to video evidence that was central to the trial.
The appeals court, however, rejected Kelly’s arguments. It noted that jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the thirteen counts against him, even after viewing the video evidence that was presented during the trial. This evidence showed Kelly allegedly abusing a girl, with the accuser, identified only as Jane, testifying for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
Furthermore, the court dismissed Kelly’s claim that he should not have been prosecuted since the allegations occurred while Illinois law required prosecution of child sex crime charges within ten years. The panel labeled this argument as an attempt by Kelly to evade charges after employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet.
Despite the court’s decision, Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, stated that they plan to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the decision and continue pursuing all appellate remedies until Kelly is freed. She expressed disappointment in the ruling but emphasized that their fight is far from over.
Additionally, prosecutors in Chicago had sought an even tougher sentence of 25 years for Kelly, and they wanted the 20-year sentence from the Chicago case to be served simultaneously with the 30-year sentence imposed in 2022 in New York for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions. However, Judge Harry Leinenweber rejected this request, ordering Kelly to serve the 20-year sentence from the Chicago case first.
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