Jury Finds R. Kelly Guilty Of All Counts In Federal Sex Trafficking Case

This is our song FOR REAL, no doubt.

A jury has found R. Kelly guilty of all counts in his federal sex trafficking and racketeering case. A moment of history that’s been in the making for several decades.

Source: Chicago Tribune / Getty

R. Kelly and his decades-long scheme of recruiting women and underage girls for sex has been the focus of his current trial, but as of today, justice is finally being served. Earlier today, in a Brooklyn federal court, seven men and five women convicted Kelly of eight violations of the anti-sex trafficking law and of racketeering. Deliberations lasted over 9 hours before the verdict came in.

The trial, which began on August 18, brought forth federal counts of human trafficking, racketeering, child pornography, kidnapping, and forced labor. Kelly pleaded not guilty and his team sought to prove he was innocent, but after six weeks of testimony from 50 witnesses, including 45 for the prosecution, Kelly and his legal team were outmatched due to the evidence at hand.

NewsOne reports that his lawyers argued the accusers are all “groupies” and “stalkers” who sought to take advantage of his fame and lied on the witness stand. That seemed to be the only thing they could think his lawyers had in their deck of cards for this whole trial. Keep in mind, this is only the New York trial, and frankly, R. Kelly has a world tour of court appearances ahead of him.

HipHopWired reports that the Pied Piper of “R&Creep’s” sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 4, 2022.

Tarana J. Burke, founder of the “me too” movement has released a statement on Kelly’s sentencing saying;

“This verdict was a long time coming and although it doesn’t bring automatic healing to his survivors, I hope it brings a sense of closure that can help facilitate the healing process.

The real story here is about the relentless activism of Black women who refused to let rampant, open abuse and violence toward Black girls and young women fall on deaf ears.

Black women were ringing the alarm long before the world knew what ‘me too’ was about. It took all of our efforts, and those of tireless journalists like Jim DeRogatis – to get many to pay attention. We have shown once again that when we can’t count on anyone else – we can count on each other.”