R. Kelly found guilty in second federal sex crimes case

A Chicago jury reportedly deliberated for 11 hours over the course of two days before convicting R. Kelly Wednesday afternoon on three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor. They acquitted Kelly, however, of a fourth child pornography charge, and of conspiring to obstruct justice in a 2008 case that was held in the same Cook County federal court.

The trial began last month, with the state arguing that Kelly “had sex with multiple children” and “made videotapes of himself having sex with children,” and Kelly’s attorney imploring the jury to “remember we are talking about a human being.” A 37-year-old woman who Kelly is now convicted of enticing and filming during sexual intercourse when she was 14, but who refused to testify against him in the initial 2008 case after Kelly allegedly coached her on what to say to the grand jury, was the state’s key witness.

Brooklyn federal judge Anne M. Donnelly ruled last week that $27,828 (all but $500) could be seized from Kelly’s prison commissary account to pay a court fine and restitution to Kelly’s victims. Back in June, Donnelly sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison after his September 2021 conviction on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. He also faces two felony counts of sexual misconduct in Minnesota for allegedly “engaging in, hiring, or agreeing to hire a minor to engage in prostitution.”