R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually abusing women, boys and girls for decades.
The disgraced 90s singer, 55, was convicted by a federal jury in New York in September last year.
Sentencing Kelly today, Judge Ann Donnelly said he had used his “minions” to “lure young fans into your orbit”, and there were parts of his victims' testimony she would "never forget".
The performer, full name Robert Kelly, dressed in a grey prison-issue uniform, did not appear to react as his sentence was passed.
He was branded a "predator" who used his fame and fortune to "prey on the young, the vulnerable, and the voiceless for his own sexual gratification" following his conviction.
Federal prosecutors had called for him to be locked up for more than 25 years to "protect the public", but his defence had argued that a sentence of 10 years or less is all he deserves as he's "not currently a risk".
He was convicted on multiple counts of racketeering, with the charges relating to bribery and forced labour.
Kelly was also found in violation of an anti-sex trafficking law known as the Mann Act.
The Ignition hitmaker, who denied all charges, was found guilty on all nine counts against him following a six-week trial in Brooklyn, New York.
Today, Kelly was branded “the pied piper of R&B” as he came face to face with several of his victims who detailed his “deplorable and inexplicable” abuse ahead of his sentencing.
The court heard victim impact statements from seven women, presented anonymously to the court as Jane Does, who detailed Kelly’s “God-like complex” and how he used his “fame and power” to entice his victims.
A woman using the pseudonym Angela told him: “The pied piper of R&B, both in music and in technique and in approach.
“Success and love… you presented these glittering gems as if they were gold.
“With every addition of a new victim you grew in wickedness, cockiness, diminishing any form of humanity or self-awareness, which soon became the breeding ground for your God-like complex.
“You were doing, saying and encouraging despicable things that no one should be doing."
“We reclaim our names from beneath the shadows of your afflicted trauma.”
Kelly looked straight ahead as the emotional statements were read out.
At one point a woman known as Jane Doe number two halted her statement saying she “did not want to interrupt (Kelly’s) conversation” as the singer appeared to confer with his lawyer.
In her harrowing statement, Jane Doe two said: "It's been 23 years since we knew each other, and you've victimised a lot of girls since then."
She later added: "Now it's your turn to have your freedom taken from you.”
She had described in detail how Kelly would return sweaty from basketball games with his friends before making her perform oral sex on him.
“I felt special because someone who was special to the world was interested in me,” she said, adding, “I hope you go to jail for the rest of your life.”
“You are an abuser, you are shameless, you are disgusting,” she told him.
Another woman, known as Jane Doe No three, who testified at trial that she was imprisoned and raped at his home in Olympia Fields, Illinois in 2003 also addressed the court.
She described how the singer would have people watch and follow her over the years.
“I was scared for my life,” she said. The woman had emailed a statement to the court that she did not wish to read in full.
But before leaving the lectern, she added: “I hope and I pray to God that we can all heal.”
Victim Kitti Jones, said that Kelly did things to her that she “plans to take to my grave,” also saying, “Many of us have been waiting for this day to come.”
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Donnelly told Kelly: “Sentencing another human being is probably the most difficult thing a judge has to do.”
“It is fair to say, Mr Kelly, that you are a person that had some great advantage, you had worldwide fame and celebrity, untold money,” she said.
“Using your status and celebrity… you had a system of people that you used to lure young fans into your orbit.
“Having your minions troll for young people at the mall… handing out your phone number… for the opportunity to meet R Kelly.”
“You fancied yourself a genius that can do ‘whatever I want because of what I give to the world’.”
Recalling his treatment of his female victims, Judge Donnelly said there were parts of the testimony that she would “never forget”.
“You taught them that love is enslavement and violence,” she added.
Kelly chose not to make any statement himself ahead of sentencing due to pending cases against him.
Before being sentenced Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, told the judge she should sentence him “not based on inflamed emotions,” but on the nature of the charges that he was convicted of in September.
Ms Bonjean said the star has a history of being generous and is “widely accepted as a musical genius.”
She pointed out Kelly was the son of a single mother who “grew up in a highly chaotic home” where he was sexually abused, and that he was a product of his childhood.
“Mr Kelly rejects that’s he’s this monster,” Bonjean said.
On the opening day of the New York trial last year, prosecutors told the jury that Kelly used an entourage of managers, bodyguards and others to recruit victims.
During the case, the government called 45 witnesses to detail the horrific abuse the singer subjected his victims to.
In shocking claims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said Kelly would require victims to get his permission before doing virtually anything, including going to the bathroom.
He then reportedly blackmailed them by threatening to release self-incriminating letters he forced them to write if they scarpered.
The singer is also claimed to have insisted on his victims calling him "Daddy" while filming their sexual encounters, controlling his victims "physically, sexually and psychologically".
But Kelly's lawyer Nicole Blank Becker said the government's case had "gaps," claiming his accusers were former fans who were scorned because they were unhappy their relationships didn't work out.
"They knew exactly what they were getting into," she said. "The relationships Mr. Kelly had with the various Jane Does were consenting relationships."
Kelly's most high-profile relationship was with the late singer Aaliyah.
Evidence presented at the trial suggested a fraudulent marriage scheme protected Kelly after he worried he had impregnated the R&B star in 1994 when she was just 15.
Witnesses said the couple were married using a license falsely listing her age as 18 - R Kelly was 27 at the time.
The disturbing case has gripped the nation and was unpicked in Netflix's Surviving R Kelly documentary.
The six-parter gave voice to accusers who wondered if their stories were previously ignored because they were Black women.
However in the series, the singer's brother Bruce made a statement from jail, appearing to defend Kelly's sexual history with underage girls.
Speaking wearing his prison uniform, he mused: “You have people who have fantasies about different things...
"I like older women, go figure, you know. But that’s just a preference."
R. Kelly has been jailed without bail since in 2019.
He's still facing child pornography and obstruction of justice charges in Chicago, where a trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 15.
