Supreme Court upholds R. Kelly’s child sex abuse conviction, 20-year sentence remains
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal from the incarcerated R&B artist R. Kelly against his 2022 federal conviction related to child pornography and the sexual exploitation of underage girls. This conviction is one of two cases where he has been found guilty of sexual offenses.
The justices dismissed Kelly’s appeal concerning a previous court ruling that confirmed a federal jury’s decision in Chicago.
57-year-old Kelly argued in his Supreme Court appeal that the charges were brought against him after the statute of limitations had lapsed.
During the trial, multiple women testified that Kelly had assaulted them when they were minors. The jury also viewed a video showing Kelly abusing his goddaughter, who stated that the abuse had started in the 1990s when she was a teenager.
The artist, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, received a 20-year prison sentence following his conviction on three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticing minors for sexual activities. However, he was acquitted of seven other charges, including obstruction of justice and conspiracy for receiving child pornography.
In a separate trial in 2021, Kelly was found guilty in Brooklyn, New York, on all nine charges, including racketeering and multiple violations of the Mann Act, which prevents transporting individuals across state lines for sexual exploitation. He was sentenced to 30 years in that case, which will largely coincide with his Chicago sentence.
Kelly is currently serving his sentence at a federal facility in Butner, North Carolina and is anticipated to be eligible for release in 2045, as indicated by records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Kelly pursued his Supreme Court appeal following a decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April, which denied his previous challenge.
