A Chicago appellate court upheld R. Kelly’s conviction on charges of child pornography and child enticement on Friday, rejecting his defense that the charges were filed after the statute of limitations expired.
The court emphasized Kelly’s history of abusing underage girls and using tactics to silence them, stating that despite his efforts to delay accountability, his crimes caught up with him.
The court affirmed his conviction and denied his request for a new sentencing hearing, noting that his sentence of 20 years in Chicago will largely run concurrently with a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York.
The court stressed the inter-connected-ness of his sentences and emphasized that Kelly’s arguments failed to acknowledge this reality.
Despite Kelly’s appeal and continued incarceration in a federal correctional center in North Carolina, the court affirmed the fairness and validity of his conviction and sentencing.
