R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

R. Kelly

Legendary R&B singer and songwriter R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday.

US district judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence on the 55-year-old at the federal court in Brooklyn for sexually abusing women, girls and boys.

The conviction comes over 20 years after allegations first arose against the three-time Grammy Award winner, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly.

The "I Believe I Can Fly," singer was charged with 21 counts of making child sexual abuse videos involving various sexual acts in June 2002. He was acquitted on all counts following a trial in 2008.

“With the aid of his inner circle and over a period of decades, the defendant preyed upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification," read a sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors in the eastern district of New York.

It added, “In order to carry out his many crimes, the defendant relied upon his fame, money and popularity as an R&B recording star and used the large network of people his status afforded him – including his business managers, security guards and bouncers, runners, lawyers, accountants, and assistants – to both carry out and conceal his crimes.”

A jury in New York City found Kelly guilty of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution, last year. At the heart of the case against Kelly was his 1994 marriage to singer Aaliyah Haughton. The singer was 27 when he married the then 15-year-old Haughton.

Prosecutors said Kelly fraudulently married her to conceal abuse from when she was 12 or 13. Haughton died in 2001.

In handing down the sentence, the judge told Kelly "the public has to be protected from behaviors like this," according to the New York Times.

"These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years," Judge Donnelly added. "You taught them that love is enslavement and violence."

Kelly is currently being held at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn. He is expected to be moved back to Chicago, where he faces another federal trial in August where he is charged with enticement of a minor, possession of child abuse images and obstruction of justice.