R. Kelly. Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Pictures
Disgraced rapper R. Kelly is asking the USA Supreme Courtroom to overturn his 2022 conviction of kid pornography and interesting in intercourse with a minor.
Kelly, 57, has claimed that the fees he has been convicted for occurred a long time in the past and exceed the statute of limitations, in keeping with a report revealed by TMZ on Tuesday, July 30. (The 2003 PROTECT Act ensures there isn’t any statute of limitations in opposition to youngster intercourse crimes.)
The musician was initially accused of kid pornography within the early 2000s however was acquitted on all fees by 2008. Years later, allegations of sexual misconduct got here to mild as soon as once more after the 2019 documentary Surviving R. Kelly was launched. In 2021, Kelly was discovered responsible of sexual abuse and intercourse trafficking; he was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in jail.
The next yr, Kelly obtained a responsible verdict as soon as once more, this time on three counts of kid pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to have interaction in prison sexual exercise. He was sentenced to twenty years in February 2023, 19 of that are set to be served concurrently his earlier sentence.
Whereas Hollywood could seem like all glitz and glam on the floor, the business has seen its justifiable share of scandals by way of the years. The New York Instances and the New Yorker first revealed investigative items in 2017 that accused disgruntled film producer Harvey Weinstein of a long time of sexual assault and harassment. Quickly after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]
Following his 2022 responsible verdict, Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, stayed constructive, declaring they “gained extra counts than we misplaced”and praising the jury for doing their job.
Now, when asking the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to overturn the conviction, Bonjean has argued that Kelly’s prior convictions don’t meet the PROTECT Act standards as a result of the alleged acts happened within the Nineties, in keeping with TMZ.
Us Weekly has reached out to Kelly’s workforce for remark.
Kelly’s survivors have spoken out through the years, detailing the alleged abuse they confronted by the hands of the musician.
“He’s not a very good individual,” Asante McGee, who was featured in Surviving R. Kelly, informed Us in a 2019 interview. “I’ve all the time mentioned that [he] is the Satan.”
Numerous celebrities have spoken out in opposition to R. Kelly’s alleged abuse since Lifetime aired Surviving R. Kelly in January 2019. The six-part docuseries featured greater than 50 interviews with the R&B singer’s former collaborators and the various ladies who’ve accused him of predatory conduct, pedophilia and different types of sexual, psychological and bodily abuse. Scroll […]
Kitti Jones, one other sufferer, informed Us on the time she hoped Kelly could be discovered “accountable within the court docket of regulation as a result of he has damaged the regulation.”
She continued: “He has violated folks, he has damage folks and there’s stuff on tape you can’t deny. I don’t suppose he’ll ever come clean with what he has completed, however that’ll definitely assist. And get some remedy.”
In case you or somebody has been sexually assaulted, contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
In case you or somebody is experiencing youngster abuse, name or textual content Youngster Assist Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
In case you or somebody is a human trafficking sufferer, contact the Nationwide Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
