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R. Kelly acquitted on all charges - Lock up your daughters!

June 13th, 2008 by Scott Marks

After six years and a highly publicized case, R. Kelly will not move from out of the closet and into a jail cell. It took the jury assigned the R&B singer’s child pornography trial less than three hours to clear him on all 14 counts filed against him.

Kelly was charged with videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, who prosecutors say was as young as 13. If convicted, he faced a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. He would also have had to register as a sex offender in Illinois.

The jury—nine men and three women—deliberated for about three hours Thursday and part of today before reaching their verdicts.

As the first “not guilty” was read, R. Kelly dipped his head and kept it bowed during the entire reading of the 14-count verdict. It must have felt more exciting than a splash of warm urine to the face.

Kelly never took the witness stand during the trial. After being cleared, he removed a baby blue handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed away his tears of joy.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports, “When word of the verdict spread through the courthouse, some Cook County deputies — as well as lawyers walking through the building’s first floor hallways — cheered.”

Outside the courthouse, approximately 75 of Kelly’s supporters applauded when the verdict was read.

Kelly did not talk with reporters, but a spokesman said, “Most of all, he wants to thank God for giving him the strength to get through this.”

The key question for the jurors was whether they believe it was Kelly in the video, as prosecutors contend. Kelly’s attorneys say it wasn’t him. There were questions concerning a distinctive mole on Kelly’s back that doesn’t appear on the videotape.

The Sun-Times noted, “Defense attorneys keyed in on the fact that the victim, now an adult, has denied she’s the one on the tape. They noted that Kelly’s goddaughter is a ’sweet, nice young lady,’ and certainly wouldn’t have accepted cash for sex, as the girl in the tape is shown doing.”

Links:
R. Kelly jurors shown graphic sex video…again & a discussion of Trapped in the Closet

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