Monday, July 6, 2026

R&B Singer R Kelly Going to Jail for the Rest of His Life: 30 Year Sentence for Sex Abuse of Minors

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He believed he could fly.

Back in 1994, singer R Kelly illegally married then teenage singer Aaliyah. She was 15.

Even after Aaliyah died in a plane crash, Kelly was accused over and over again of luring teenage girls to his home or hotel rooms. In 2008, he was acquitted in Chicago on charges of child pornography.

But when the #MeToo movement became a thing in 2017, Kelly’s days were numbered. Today he was sentenced by a New York judge to 30 years in prison, Kelly, who’s 55, will spend the rest of his life in jail paying for his sins. At least 11 of his victims spoke at the sentencing today.

What really kicked open Kelly’s cases was an award winning documentary, produced by Dream Hampton, Tamra Simmons and Brie Miranda Bryant. It was shown on Netflix, and wound up reopening all the old cases. Those women must feel a great sense of accomplishment and justice today.

In addition to “I Believe I Can Fly,” Kelly had dozens of R&B hits, wrote and produced for other artists as well. He was a great talent, but a very sick guy.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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