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<\/div>DETROIT, MI – FEBRUARY 21: R. Kelly performs at Little Caesars Arena on February 21, 2018 in … [+]<\/span> GETTY IMAGES<\/small><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n After six weeks of testimony from former employees, expert witnesses, and accusers \u2014 Grammy award-winning singer, R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly \u2014 was found guilty on Monday of six changes. The racketeering charge placed him at the head of a sex ring that used his fame to lure people into becoming potential victims. Kelly, 54, plead not guilty to all charges. The prosecution dominated the majority of the trial, which included riveting and emotional\u00a0testimony from 45 witnesses<\/a>. Of the 45 witnesses, 11 were his accusers \u2013 6 of which were underage when they began having sexual interactions with R. Kelly. Although he has not yet been sentenced, Kelly faces ten years to life.<\/p>\n The singer\u2019s defense lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, faced harsh criticism after he painted Kelly\u2019s accusers as opportunists and lairs during his closing statement last Thursday. In particular, he called one of Kelly\u2019s accusers a\u00a0\u201csuper stalker\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0\u201csuper hustler.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The comments were just two of many that rubbed the public the wrong way, and some argued that Cannick\u2019s closing arguments were a classic case of victim-blaming. But this is not Kelly\u2019s first time at the rodeo, so to speak. There’s a long history of women who have come forward to share their experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of Kelly \u2013 stories that were strikingly similar to those shared during the trial.<\/p>\n During the trial, some might have been surprised to learn about Mr. Kelly\u2019s sexual relationship with the late R&B singer Aaliyah who was 15 years old, and Kelly, 27 years old, when the two married in 1994. The marriage was widely speculated about by fans and those in the R&B community for years. It was a secret that was not so secret that the public rarely spoke about it. From that point, Kelly\u2019s history of sexual abuse and exploitation of men and women both of age and underage continued and even grew momentum. Over the years, R. Kelly faced a revolving door of accusations that included leading a\u00a0\u201csex cult\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and being\u00a0charged twice with making child pornography<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, it was not until Surviving R. Kelly aired \u2014 a 2019 documentary that brought national attention to the singer\u2019s long and twisted history of abuse \u2014 when formal federal charges were made against Kelly that would not be later dropped. In the documentary, witnesses recalled R. Kelly frequently visiting Kenwood High School, a local high school in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, looking for young high school students to solicit sexual relationships.<\/p>\n The history of sexual abuse allegations against Kelly spans almost three decades. Yet, he earned tens of millions of dollars during that time, released over 20 albums, and was nominated for over 20 Grammys and won 3. But, how? Some argue that R. Kelly hid in plain sight, calling himself the pied piper \u2014 a fictional character who lured and kidnapped children with his flute \u2013by praying on Black women, men, and children. But this argument might not be too far-fetched.<\/p>\n Almost\u00a0half of U.S. sex trafficking victims<\/a>\u00a0are Black girls, and it\u2019s reported that approximately\u00a060% of Black girls<\/a>\u00a0are sexually assaulted before they turn 18, making them more vulnerable to sexual\u00a0predators<\/a>. But R. Kelly is not alone. There are thousands of sex trafficking rings throughout the country. Some are run to fulfill personal fetish desires such as Kelly\u2019s, and others are run on a much larger scale. One such case was a\u00a0club promoter and DJ<\/a>\u00a0who trafficked Black women out of a nightclub and in various Louisiana hotels, who evaded police for years. Once he was caught \u2014 despite some of the victims being as young as 13 years old \u2014 some media and law enforcement referred to the victims in the operation as being\u00a0complicit and \u201cconsensual.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The victims\u2019 exploitation and abuse were virtually dismissed, and they remained unnamed characters in a sensationalized story about sex trafficking.<\/p>\n These comments are similar to how Kelly\u2019s defense team described his accusers and attempted to deflect blame onto the very people who Kelly sexually abused. This is not just an underhanded and vile tactic for lawyers to win cases. Victim blaming feeds into a more significant cultural issue in which sexual abuse is minimized, and perpetrators are then exonerated from any wrongdoing. Perhaps, because Black women and girls are a member of two marginalized groups, sexual predators know that there is a good chance that their abuse will go unnoticed and that their accusations will more than likely not be taken seriously. Similar to how decades of allegations against R. Kelly were overlooked and silenced.<\/p>\n
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