US Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from jailed singer R Kelly
7 October 2024, 18:04
His lawyers argued that a shorter statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to offences dating back to the 1990s.
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from singer R Kelly, who is serving 20 years in prison after being convicted of child sex convictions in Chicago.
The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty in 2022 of three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
His lawyers argued that a shorter statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to offences dating back to the 1990s. Current US law permits charges while an accuser is still alive.
The justices did not detail their reasoning in declining to hear the case, as is typical. And none publicly dissented. Lower courts previously rejected his arguments.
Federal prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser identified only as Jane testified that she was 14 when the video was filmed.
Kelly has also appealed against a separate 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.
