One of R Kelly’s victims feared he would never be brought to justice for abusing Black girls.
R Kelly at a 2019 hearing
A survivor of the fallen R and B superstar’s abuse, who is not being named, said she had spent every day of her life convinced allegations against the singer from “Black and brown girls” would remain ignored by the US legal system.
She told reporters after Kelly, 55, was sentenced to 30 years in jail for using his celebrity status to sexually abuse children and women: “There wasn’t a day in my life, up until this moment, that I actually believed that the judicial system would come through for Black and brown girls.”
But US attorney Breon Peace said: “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.”
The first journalist to cover Kelly’s alleged crimes in 2000 also said his conviction would be unlikely “if he still had the money and fame”.
Jim DeRogatis said on ABC’s ‘RN Breakfast’: “I’m not so sure we would have seen the conviction or the sentencing today if he still had the money and fame that he had at the height of his powers through the ’90s, through the 2000s.
“He’s broke. As he sang in the last song he released to the world, ‘I am a broke a** legend’.
“Justice is bought in America too frequently by money and fame and that’s what happened when he was first tried for making child pornography in 2008.”
DeRogatis broke the story about an infamous video tape that showed Kelly allegedly abusing and degrading a 14-year-old girl.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced on Wednesday (29.06.22) to 30 years in prison at the US District Court, New York, over his scheme to entice and sexually exploit young aspiring singers and underage children.
The singer, who denied the charges he faced, was found guilty on all nine counts against him after a six-week trial in Brooklyn.
The sentence came after he was convicted last September in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes.
He had faced years of allegations and the judge on Wednesday said he showed an “indifference to human suffering”, after the court heard how Kelly forced his victims into “obedience” and “horrors”.
The singer did not appear to react as his sentence was passed, but his lawyer has insisted he wanted to speak at his sentencing.
Jennifer Bonjean added she advised him against it while he has open cases in Chicago and Minnesota.
Another case, involving child pornography and similar allegations, is scheduled to go to trial in Chicago federal court from August.
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