Patience Leonard, PBA Journalism MenteePopular American singer, R. Kelly and a British Socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell, were respectively sentenced to jail within 24 hours for sexual crimes involving children.
The R&B singer, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on Wednesday with a fine of $100,000 while Ghislaine Maxwell, a former socialite was also handed 20 years imprisonment with a fine of $750,000 for related offences on June 28th, 2022.
Kelly, 55, was convicted last year of racketeering and sex trafficking of some of his male and female fans including teenagers using his fame to lure them.
A New York jury, convicted Kelly on nine counts last September, including one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
According to report by Associated Press, several accusers testified against Kelly claiming that he subjected them to perverse and emotional torture when they were underage.
“The accusers alleged they were ordered to sign non disclosure forms and were subjected to threats and punishments such as violent spankings if they broke what one referred to as “Rob’s rules” says the report.
Maxwell, 60, on the other hand was found guilty in 2021 of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with an American financier and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, in a statement, said the 20-year term “sends a strong message that no one is above the law and it is never too late for justice.”
Jeffrey Epstein, 66, who was awaiting his own court trial last year took his own life while in New York prison. Afterwards, Maxwell was forcefully arrested in her Brooklyn residence after she made some resistance.
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