‘Today my voice was heard’: Relief after R Kelly convicted
R KELLY’S victims have shared their relief after the R&B singer – dogged for years by abuse claims – was convicted of sex trafficking.
Kelly, 54, the highest-profile musician brought down in the #MeToo era, was found guilty on all nine counts by a New York jury that heard he used his fame and wealth to lure underage girls, boys and women for sex.
‘Today my voice was heard,’ posted Jerhonda Pace (inset), one of the women who testified at his more than five-week trial.
‘For years, I was trolled for speaking out about the abuse that I suffered at the hands of that predator. People called me a liar and said I had no proof. Some even said I was speaking out for money. Speaking out about abuse is not easy, especially when your abuser is high-profile.’
The singer Sparkle, real name Stephanie Edwards, said she felt ‘vindicated’ after the verdict.
She had accused Kelly of sexually assaulting her underage niece but saw him acquitted in a 2008 trial in Chicago.
Dream Hampton, who produced documentary Surviving R. Kelly – a catalyst for the
New York case against him – tweeted: ‘Grateful to the survivors. The ones who talked and the ones who didn’t.’
The singer, real name Robert Kelly, faces life in prison when he is sentenced for racketeering and trafficking on May 4.
The MuteRKelly campaign, founded in 2017 to try to remove his music from the air waves, posted: ‘We hope this verdict brings some sense of justice to the brave survivors who came forward.’ Some of Kelly’s supporters had wept outside court at the verdict, and defiant fans tweeted the hashtag #FreeRKelly.