R. Kelly Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Child Sex Abuse Case

Disgraced R&B singer/songwriter and convicted sex offender R. Kelly was handed down a 20-year prison sentence on Thursday by an Illinois federal judge on charges of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex, according to multiple news reports.

Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is already serving 30 years in prison for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges based out of New York, according to the Associated Press, CNN, and NBC News.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber ordered that the 56-year-old musician serve 19 years of the 20-year prison term concurrently with his other sentence. One year would be served only after the New York term.

This means, Kelly will spend a total of 31 years behind bars.

In the Illinois case, federal prosecutors asked Judge Leinenweber to sentence Kelly to 25 years in prison, arguing that he was a "serial sexual predator" who "poses a serious danger to society," NBC News reports.

In response, the judge reportedly said, "sentencing should be sufficient but not greater than necessary."

Kelly's defense attorneys wrote in court filings that if the "I Believe I Can Fly" singer was to survive his 30-year prison sentence, "there is no reason to believe he would reoffend as a geriatric in his mid-80s," CNN reports.

Two of the Grammy-winner's victims gave statements in court this week, both of whom asked the judge to hand down a harsh sentence.

"Now you are here … because there is something wrong with you," a victim who goes by the name "Nia," said, per the AP. "No longer will you be able to harm children."

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The conviction and subsequent sentencing this week in the child sex abuse case stems from his filming the sexual abuse of underage girls, the AP reports.

For decades, allegations swirled around the singer, who had previously been acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008, PEOPLE reported.

Prosecutors said in an indictment issued after Kelly's arrest in 2019 that he and his team — which included managers, bodyguards, and assistants — "traveled throughout the United States and abroad to perform at concert venues... and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly" as far back as 1999.

Kelly remains held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.