Chicago jury finds R. Kelly guilty of sex abuse charges

R. Kelly.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday of multiple sex crimes, including producing child sexual abuse imagery.

The 55-year-old was found guilty of three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticement, but was acquitted of a fourth pornography count and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Four women who accused Kelly of sexual abuse took the stand during the trial, including one who went by the pseudonym Jane. The 37-year-old testified that she was 14 years old when Kelly abused her, with the incident recorded on camera. That tape was at the center of Kelly's 2008 trial on child pornography charges, which ended in the singer being found not guilty.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Kelly's 2008 and 2022 trials both took place in Chicago, where a conviction of one count of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, The Associated Press reports. In September 2021, Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges by a Brooklyn jury, and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.