R. Kelly found guilty of child pornography, sex abuse in Chicago trial

R. Kelly was found guilty on Wednesday of several child pornography and sex abuse offences by a federal jury in Chicago, delivering another blow to the singer who was once one of the biggest music stars in the world.

Kelly, 55, was found guilty on three counts of child pornography and three counts of child enticement.

But the jury acquitted him on a fourth pornography count as well as a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge accusing him fixing his state child pornography trial in 2008. He was found not guilty on all three counts of conspiring to receive child pornography and for two further enticement charges.

His two co-defendants were found not guilty on all charges.

The conviction marks the latest fall from grace for Kelly, who is already serving a 30-year prison sentence after being found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York in June.

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Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and for sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind,” Kelly sold millions of albums even after allegations of sexual misconduct circulated in the 1990s. Widespread outrage emerged after the #MeToo reckoning and the 2019 Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”

Kelly and co-defendant Derrell McDavid, Kelly’s ex-business manager, were accused of fixing Kelly’s 2008 trial on state child porn charges by intimidating and paying off witnesses.

Kelly faced four counts of producing child pornography, one of conspiring to obstruct justice by fixing the 2008 trial, one of conspiring to receive child porn, two of actually receiving it and five of enticing minors for sex.

McDavid was charged with four counts — two for receiving child porn, one for conspiring to do so and one for conspiring to obstruct justice by rigging the 2008 trial, at which Kelly was acquitted.

Co-defendant Milton Brown, a former Kelly associate, faced a single count of conspiring to receive child pornography.

With files from the Associated Press