American R&B singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, popularly known as R kelly has been sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on Wednesday by a New York court for using his fame to sexually abuse young fans.
Several of R kelly’s accusers disclosed to the court their ordeal in the hands of the singer over the years.
The singer was last year found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking at a trial that gave voice to accusers who thought their stories were being ignored because they were black, AP News reports.
The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for the Legendary singer, who is known for his works including the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and the cult classic “Trapped in the Closet”.
According to testimonies, Kelly gave several accusers sexually transmitted disease( STD) without disclosing his condition, coerced a teenage boy to join him for sex with a naked girl who emerged from underneath a boxing ring in his garage ,and several other shaming sexual activities.
“I hope this sentencing serves as its own testimony that it doesn’t matter how powerful, rich or famous your abuser may be or how small they make you feel — justice only hears the truth,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said on Wednesday.
The U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly also said as she sentenced him. “The horrors your victims endured, No price was too high to pay for your happiness.”
The singer still faces child pornography and obstruction-of-justice charges in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 15.
