R. Kelly found guilty on all counts, faces life in prison

R. Kelly last Monday (20 September) was found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking and a rackeeting conspiracy by a federal jury in New York. The R&B singer will be sentenced in May, after two decades of denying sexual abuse and offences allegations and avoiding criminal responsibility for misconducts toward young women and children.

Here is the timeline highlighting the important parts throughout Kelly’s career and all accusations against him: 

Kelly debuted as a singer in January 1992 with an album titled “Born into the 90's”. He then released many other songs and set his persona as an artist who specialises in writing sexual lyrics.

In August 1994, Kelly reportedly married his 15-year-old protégé, Aaliyah Haughton. He was 27 at that time. In September 1994, Aaliyah released an album titled “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” which was produced by Kelly. 

It was later discovered that Aaliyah had lied about her age on the wedding certificate, listing her age as 18. In 1995, the marriage was annulled after Aaliyah's family became aware of it. 

Kelly remarried in 1996. In the same year, his legal troubles began and accusations against him started to surface. 

In December that year, Tiffany Hawkins sued Kelly for the “personal injuries and emotional distress” she suffered during a three-year relationship with him. According to the legal document, she said she began having sex with Kelly in 1991, when she was 15 and he was 24. The case was settled 2 years later after Hawkins accepted $250,000 in damages although she sought for $10 million. 

In 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times published a story about allegations of Kelly’s sexual relationships with girls as young as 15. Other than the above mentioned cases, it is also stated that Kelly also had sex with another underage girl, but the investigation was dropped because the girl would not cooperate.

2001 was way worse. In January, a sex-tape of Kelly and an underage woman emerged. In August, Tracy Sampson, an aspiring rapper and former intern at Epic Records, filed a lawsuit against him, claiming that he initiated a sexual relationship when she was 17. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount. 

Kelly was indicted in Chicago in June 2002 on charges of child pornography in relation to the sex tape mentioned earlier. However, he pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. 

In January 2003, after several investigations Kelly was arrested on child porn charges, but the charges were later dropped after a judge ruled that the police did not have a warrant.

In September 2005, his wife asked for an order of protection, accusing Kelly of hitting her when she asked for a divorce. Kelly’s brother Carey also revealed in February 2006 that Kelly offered him $50,000 and a record deal if he says that he was the person in the sex tape.

Kelly’s child pornography trial began in May 2008, and he was acquitted after fast jury deliberations in June. In January 2009, Kelly and Andrea confirmed that they have divorced.

Fast forward to 2017, new allegations came up. Jerhonda Johnson Pace, 24, told BuzzFeed that in 2008 when she was 15 and was a fan of him, she met him and they began to have a sexual relationship. DJ Kitti Jones claimed that Kelly once starved her, coerced her into sexual encounters with other women and physically abused her.

BuzzFeed also published parents’ claims that Kelly brainwashed their daughters to get into a “sex cult”. He denied all allegations.

Activists Kenyette Barnes and Oronike Odeleye in 2017 began the #MuteRKelly movement, calling everyone to boycott him and his music. A year after, the victims formed an advocacy group called “Time’s Up” which is associated with the broader #MeToo movement and demanded further investigation. 

In May 2018, Spotify removed R. Kelly's discography. This move was later followed by Apple and Pandora. In the same month, 20-year-old Faith Rodgers filed a lawsuit, accusing Kelly of sexual battery, mental and verbal abuse, as well as knowingly giving her herpes.

In January 2019, “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary was released, containing allegations against the singer and features interviews with several of his accusers. The next month, Kelly was arrested and charged in Chicago on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. 

Kelly’s attorney entered a not guilty plea, and the singer was released from jail on bail. He, again, denied all allegations in March in an interview with CBS News’ Gayle King. 

However, in May 2019, he was charged with 11 new sex-related counts in Chicago. In July, he was charged by the Chicago jury on 13 counts, including child pornography, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty in March 2020. 

There was also a separate federal indictment in New York in July 2019, including charges of racketeering. He pleaded not guilty in August. A few days later, he was charged in Minnesota with prostitution and solicitation counts. Trial dates for those cases are yet to be set.

Kelly’s sex trafficking trial only began in August 2021 after COVID-related postponements. The prosecutors present the singer as a serial sexual predator while his defense lawyers describe his accusers as “groupies” who tried to take advantage of his fame and exploit the #MeToo movement.

The last development of this case was a few days ago after Kelly was found guilty in New York of one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, a law that prohibits the transport of people across state lines “for any immoral purpose”. 

Kelly will be sentenced on 4 May 2022. While it is not known how long Kelly will be sentenced for, he faces life in prison, which in the US means that a person will be imprisoned for 15 years.