Once upon a time, disgraced rapper R. Kelly held the distinguished ‘Key to the City’ of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However, after all the shocking, and quite frankly disgusting, revelations that have come to light over the course of his federal sex trafficking case, the city is now rescinding his honour.
Multiple sexual misconduct allegations have floated around the singer since his heyday in the 1990s, but regardless of these, he was still bestowed with the honour back in 2013. Then-Baton Rouge Council member Denise Marcelle told TMZ at the time that she had only been aware of his 2008 acquittal.
Marcelle is now a member of Louisiana’s House of Representatives and recently claimed that she deeply regrets giving Kelly the honour. Ironically, as she was the presenter of the award, only Marcelle was in a position to be the one to rescind it. This was a decision she made swiftly.
On Monday (27th September), Kelly was found guilty of one count of racketeering centred around sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping and forced labour. The racketeering charge places him at the head of a deeply embedded criminal enterprise described in the court as a “sex cult”.
This is not the only charge that Kelly is facing. He was also found guilty of a whopping eight counts of violating the ‘Mann Act’. This is a law that criminalises transporting someone across state lines “with intent that such individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offence.”
Although Kelly notoriously pleaded not guilty to all charges, the jury convicted him on all nine counts. He is due to be sentenced on May 4th, 2022.
It is well known that after such a protracted court case, Kelly is now in the red. In August this year, reports claimed he was trying to sell his entire back catalogue, but unsurprisingly, he is yet to find a buyer.
Watch a background video on the case below.
