R Kelly to serve 20 years for child sexual abuse

R Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge on Thursday for his convictions on child sexual abuse images and enticing minors for sex charges. 

The judge also stated that he would serve nearly all of the sentence concurrently with a 30-year sentence he received last year for racketeering charges.

In addition, Harry Leinenweber mandated that Kelly serve a year in jail following his New York conviction.

Whether Leinenweber would mandate that the 56-year-old serve the sentence concurrently with or only after he completes the New York term for 2021 racketeering and sex trafficking convictions was the key question coming into Kelly's sentencing in his hometown of Chicago. That amounts to receiving a life sentence.

She claimed that by photographing his victims, including Jane, Kelly "memorialised" his abuse of youngsters, making it all the worse. According to her testimony in court, Kelly "used Jane as a sex prop, a thing" for videos.

The prosecution conceded that Kelly's chances of escaping jail alive may have been completely eliminated by a hefty sentence served only after the New York sentence. They argued that doing so was justifiable based on his crimes against minors and lack of repentance.

At the beginning of the hearing, Leinenweber stated that he disagreed with the government's claim that Kelly used fear to force young girls to have sex.