A federal appeals court yesterday upheld R. Kelly’s sex trafficking and racketeering conviction, saying extensive evidence supported keeping the former R&B superstar behind bars for decades.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Kelly’s claims that federal prosecutors failed to prove he led a racketeering scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex and then violated several victims.
Circuit Judge Denny Chin said prosecutors offered “extensive evidence showing how Kelly ensnared young girls and women into his orbit, endeavuored to control their lives, and secured their compliance with his personal and sexual demands through verbal and physical abuse, threats of blackmail, and humiliation.”
Writing for a three-judge panel, Chin also said jurors could conclude that Kelly intended to convince victims they would be harmed if they failed to honour his sexual demands.
Kelly, 58, is serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted in September 2021 by a Brooklyn, New York jury on one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which forbids transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
l Oscar-winning US actor Kevin Spacey is facing another British lawsuit alleging sexual abuse, just 18 months after he was cleared of all charges in a high-profile criminal trial.
Spacey, 65, was sued in a civil suit by a claimant at London’s High Court yesterday, according to court records.
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