R Kelly’s appeal to overturn 20-year sentence for child sex abuse denied | Entertainment & Arts News
R Kelly’s attempt to challenge a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been denied by an appeals court.
A Chicago court ruled that the singer was rightly sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday.
He was found guilty in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticing minors for sex.
During his appeal, Kelly, aged 57, argued that Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have been applied, instead of the current law allowing charges to be brought as long as the accuser is alive.
The appeals court dismissed this argument, calling it an effort by Kelly to evade the charges altogether after “using a complex scheme to silence victims”.
He also contended that charges related to one accuser should have been tried separately from those linked to three other accusers due to video evidence that played a central role in the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors claimed the video depicted Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, known only as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was recorded.
A three-judge panel from the appeals court observed that jurors acquitted Kelly on seven out of the 13 charges against him “even after watching those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean announced their intention to request a review by the US Supreme Court of the decision and to “pursue all his legal options until we secure R Kelly’s release”.
“While we are disappointed with the verdict, our battle is far from over,” she stated.
