Sept 28, 2021: R. Kelly, the American R&B superstar known for his anthem ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, was convicted on Monday in a sex trafficking case after decades of numerous abuses against young women and children.

Kelly had managed to avoid criminal charges for decades.

A jury of seven men and five women found Kelly, 54, guilty of all nine counts during their second day of deliberations. Kelly was wearing a face mask under black glasses, his eyes downcast, as the verdict was read in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

The prosecution alleges that the delegation of managers and assistants who helped Kelly meet the girls – and keep them obedient and calm – was a criminal enterprise. Two men have been indicted along with Kelly in a separate federal case pending in Chicago.

They could face decades in prison for crimes including violations of the Mann Act, a law against sex trafficking that prohibits anyone from crossing state lines “for any immoral purpose.” The sentence is set for May 4.

Deveraux Cannick, one of Kelly’s lawyers, said he was disappointed and hoped to appeal.

According to him, “I think I’m even more disappointed the government brought the case in the first place, given all the inconsistencies,” Cannick said.

In witness testimonies, several accusers testified in lurid detail during the trial, alleging that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.

For years, the public and news media seemed to be more amused than horrified by allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors, starting with Kelly’s illegal marriage to the R&B phenom Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15.

His records and concert tickets continued to sell. Other artists continued to record his songs, even after he was arrested in 2002 and accused a 14-year-old girl of making his own recordings of sexual abuse and urination on her.

Widespread public condemnation did not come until the widely watched documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, helped make his case a mark of the #MeToo era, and helped the accusers raise their voices.

The accusers wondered if their stories were ignored at first because they were black women.

“For the victims of this case, your voice has been heard and justice has finally been done,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Cassoules said Monday.

While talking to the press outside the courthouse, Gloria Allred, a lawyer for some of Kelly’s accusers, said that of all the predators she’s gone after — a list including Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein — “Mr. Kelly is the worst.”

At the trial, several of Kelly’s accusers testified without using their real names to protect their privacy. Jurors were shown homemade videos of Kelly engaging in sex acts that prosecutors said were not consensual. The defence meanwhile labeled the accusers “groupies” and “stalkers.”

On the part of the defense, Kelly’s lawyer, Cannick, questioned why women stayed in relationships with Kelly if they thought they were being exploited.

Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been in prison without bail since 2019. The New York case is only part of the legal threat to the singer. He also pleaded not guilty to sexual misconduct charges in Illinois and Minnesota. The trial dates in these cases have not yet been set.

During the trial, the prosecution portrayed the singer as a pampered man and a control freak. His accusers said they were under orders to call him “Daddy”, expected to jump and kiss him whenever he went into the room, and then be happy for him. When he was playing pick-up basketball games in which he said he was a ball hog.

The plaintiffs allege that they were ordered to sign non-disclosure forms and were subjected to threats and punishments, such as violent spanking if they broke what is known as the “Rob’s Rules.” Some said they thought the videotapes he shot while having sex with them would be used against them if they exposed what was happening.

The trial uncovered disturbing evidence of Kelly keeping a gun by his side as he sexually and verbally abused one of the accusers while in a recording studio in LA, him transferring STDs, forcing minors to have sex, assaulting a woman in 2003 after making her unconscious, and the hideous circumstances surrounding his fraudulent marriage to minor Aaliya Dana Haughton.

Of 14 possible racketeering acts considered in the trial, the jury found only two “not proven.” The allegations involved a woman who said Kelly took advantage of her in 2003 when she was an unsuspecting radio station intern.

Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

Kelly had been tried once before, in Chicago in a child pornography case, but was acquitted in 2008.

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