US singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his status to run a scheme to sexually abuse children and women.
R. Kelly, a popular singer in the United States, was found guilty on all sex charges and given a sentence of thirty years in federal prison.
The R&B musician, who is 55 years old, was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in September by a jury in the state of New York.
He is currently being prosecuted for three separate crimes in three separate cases.
Over the course of twenty years, it was discovered that Kelly had used his celebrity status and sphere of influence to coerce women and children into sexual relationships with him
Kelly is best known for his hit songs “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition.”
During the celebrity’s sentencing on Wednesday, the United States District Judge Ann Donnelly stated that the celebrity had used sex as a weapon, compelling his victims to engage in unspeakable acts and infecting them with diseases that could not be cured.
She believed that the sentence would serve as a deterrent to her from committing crimes of a similar nature in the future.
The jury that deliberated over Kelly’s case in Brooklyn heard how he trafficked women between different states in the United States with the assistance of managers, security guards, and other members of his entourage
The court also heard how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 years old in 1994, seven years before the singer died in a plane crash