R. Kelly has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on federal child pornography charges, The Associated Press reports. Following Kelly’s September conviction, a federal court in Chicago ruled that he’ll serve 19 of those years concurrently with the 30-year sentence a New York judge handed down for Kelly’s sex trafficking and racketeering convictions last summer.
At the end of January, prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois dropped indictments against Kelly for state-level charges of aggravated sexual abuse. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx cited the “extensive sentences” of the federal cases, along with the need to allocate investigative resources to other, less high-profile cases.
Kelly is still facing state charges in Minnesota for allegedly engaging in prostitution with a minor. Along with his prison sentence for the New York charges, Kelly must pay $309,000 in restitution, which a judge ruled could be partially paid from his inmate commissary account.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
http://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
SMS: Text “HELLO” or “HOLA” to 741-741
