The appeals court said it was “neither arbitrary nor irrational” that several accusers were permitted to testify at trial that Kelly gave them herpes without disclosing he had an STD, and it was not unduly prejudicial or cumulative that seven witnesses who were not yet adults when Kelly began to abuse them were allowed to testify.
Last year, the high court declined to hear an appeal of a 20-year sentence Kelly received after he was convicted in 2022 of child sex charges including charges of producing images of child sexual abuse in Chicago.
R. Kelly’s racketeering and sex trafficking convictions, along with a 30-year prison sentence, were upheld Wednesday by a federal appeals court that concluded the singer exploited his fame for over a quarter century to sexually abuse girls and young women.
He was acquitted of child sexual abuse image charges in Chicago in 2008, but a second trial in Chicago in 2022 ended with his conviction on charges of producing images of child sexual abuse and enticing girls for sex.
The 2nd Circuit rejected Kelly's arguments that the trial evidence was inadequate, the constitutionality of some state laws used against him were questionable, four jurors were biased, the trial judge made some improper rulings and a racketeering charge more commonly used in organized crime cases was improper.
