R. Kelly’s Appeal Of Federal Sex Crimes Convictions Rejected By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court did not note any dissents, nor did it list any reasons for the denial.

The Supreme Court has rejected R. Kelly’s appeal of his federal sex crimes conviction. He will remain in jail for his sex trafficking and child pornography charges.

The disgraced singer’s appeal was among several others that the Supreme Court decided not to approve, per CNN. In his appeal, he claimed he was wrongfully retroactively prosecuted for sex crimes with minors. Kelly argued that his conviction was due to a federal law passed in 2003 granting an indefinite statute of limitations for the crime.

His lawyers detailed that a shorter statute should have been implemented on the accusations against Kelly, given the offenses dated back to the 1990s. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been in prison after being found guilty in 2022 on three charges for both images of child sexual abuse and enticing minors for sex.

After receiving a 30-year sentence for sex trafficking in 2021, he was additionally sentenced to 20 years for child pornography in 2023. Most of his dual sentence will be served concurrently, leaving him with only one extra year of prison time.

The Supreme Court did not note any dissents, nor did it list any reasons for the denial. However, it is not customary for the judicial entity to do the latter. Prior to this decision, lower courts also refused to hear Kelly’s claims.

The evidence against Kelly included a video of him engaging in sex acts with a visibly young girl. The woman, publicly identified as “Jane,” testified that she was his 14-year-old godchild at the time of the sexual abuse.

According to PBS, Kelly is also in the midst of appealing his first sentence of 30 years for his federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions held in New York.

With his current appeal rejected, Kelly should expect to remain in prison until his 80s.