R. Kelly receives 30 year prison sentence

US based singer R. Kelly (Robert Sylvester Kelly) has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his status as a celebrity to sexually abuse women and minors.

The 55 year old R&B megastar was convicted last September in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes. According to Kelly's lawyers they are gearing up to appeal the decision.

The judge presiding over the case said he had an "indifference to human suffering".

During the six-week trial jurors heard about how he trafficked women across US state lines, assisted by managers, security and other people in his employ. The court learned how Kelly had falsified paperwork to marry singer Aaliyah when she was 15 years old back in 1994, seven years before her untimely demise.