Ar Kelly kept his victims locked up for days without food or water

• The singer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex crimes spanning decades
• The women’s lawyer was Gloria Allred, who defended Jenny Sushi, who had been kissed by Kubrat Pulev

At the height of his fame at the end of the last century, the American singer Ar Kelly was often called the King of rental music. While he racked up music awards and sold millions of copies of his albums, accusations of sexual abuse against him remained in the shadow of his star image.

Last week, however, shed light on the sinister behind-the-scenes of his personal life. The 55-year-old performer was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys over decades. Sentencing, Judge Ann Donnelly said even the most experienced investigators would not forget the horrors they encountered during their investigations.

“The crimes were carefully planned and regularly executed for at least 25 years. You taught your victims that love is slavery and violence,” Donnelly addressed Ar Kelly, who remained speechless throughout. He didn’t utter a word of regret or apology as some of the women he abused gave tearful testimony about the abuse.

During the trial, it became clear that the singer regularly took advantage of his star status to lure young girls and boys.

Forced them to perform his perverts and

sadistic whims, some of whom were even minors and trafficked to various American states for sexual exploitation. The punishments he meted out to them if they disobeyed him included being locked up for days, deprived of food and water, drugged and raped. He made them call him “father”. He made them compromising videos to keep them in submission. His managers and security were part of the scheme to find suitable victims. They usually selected fans from the audience at his concerts or novice musicians who dream of a career.

Such is the case with singer Alaia. Ar Kelly agreed to help her release an album when she was 13. Under his wing, her career really took off, but to her parents’ surprise, the two married two years later. During the trial, it became clear that Ar Kelly, 27 at the time, had bribed a government official and forged a document to show that she was of legal age and they could marry. The marriage took place in a hurry in a hotel, with both of them wearing tracksuits. According to some claims, the rush was necessary because

Alaya was pregnant and had to have an abortion

Their marriage broke up a month later, and she never spoke about it until she was tragically killed in a plane crash in 2001.

Allegations that the singer molested young girls began to spread at the beginning of his music career in the 1990s. In 1997, he was sued by a young woman who accused him of sexually abusing her while she was a minor. He was later tried for child pornography with another girl in Chicago, but was acquitted in both cases.

“I hope this sentence against him serves as a testament that no matter how powerful, rich and famous your abuser is and how small he makes you feel, justice only hears the truth,” said prosecutor Brean Peace. He emphasized that

the victims were mostly dark-skinned women and children, whose complaints no one wanted to hear

and to believe them. This allowed Ar Kelly to commit his crimes for years and escape from American justice.

In the current case against him, 48 witnesses were heard. Some of them admitted that they still struggle with mental problems that they got after their contact with the world-famous singer. In the legal process, the victims were represented by one of the most famous American lawyers. Gloria Allred became famous in Bulgaria as well, after taking up the defense of the reporter Jenny Sushi, who was kissed on the mouth by Kubrat Pulev while she was interviewing him after a boxing match in the USA. The lawyer commented that she was proud of the women who decided to resist the power of Ar Kelly.

The singer’s defense tried to justify his behavior with a difficult childhood marked by violence and with the desire of many people to take advantage of his star status at any cost. His lawyers said they would appeal the sentence because it meant Ar Kelly, 55, would spend the rest of his life behind bars. However, it is unlikely that it will be reduced, especially since he is expected to face a new trial in Chicago next month on charges of distributing child pornography and obstruction of justice. And his conviction is considered very important, as the musician has been one of the most high-profile sex offenders accused since the #MeToo women’s rights movement took off in the US. He is also the first black man with such a sentence, against whom dark-skinned women testified.

The lifting of the curtain on his depraved life begins with the documentary series Surviving Ar Kelly, in which some of his victims, his brothers, his ex-wife and people who worked on his team speak. The film was released in 2019. It tries to explain how, building his status as a celebrity working with legends like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, the musician turned into a sexual monster. A very important point in it is how a series of people have turned a blind eye over the years just because they were financially dependent on the singer or because they generally had a disregard for the lives and safety of girls of color.

“I just didn’t believe them. I didn’t like the way they dressed and behaved – I voted against them,” admits in the film one of the jurors who took part in the first case against Ar Kelly for child pornography, in which he was acquitted. “That’s just the way things were. We worked for him. He wanted that and we had to provide it for him,” says his personal assistant, Demerius Smith.

His ex-wife Drea is not spared either. They met when she was 19 and auditioned to be a dancer in his ballet. The moment they become close, he forbids her from talking to the rest of the team. He organizes a surprise wedding ceremony where they get married. There followed 10 years of harassment and being locked in their family home. Drea managed to miraculously escape with their three children, but to this day she fears that

he can order her to be killed because she disobeyed him

What was shown in the film was so shocking that Ar Kelly was charged and arrested after it aired. Among them are child pornography, seduction of minors, human trafficking and obstruction of justice. In the last 3 years since he has been behind bars, it has become clear that he was involved in a fight with other inmates and was suffering from coronavirus.

The real name of the musician is Robert Sylvester Kelly. He was born in Chicago, where he is remembered as a shy child who had trouble reading, but with a talent for singing and songwriting that his parents and teachers encouraged. In an autobiographical book, he claimed that a female family member began abusing him when he was 7 years old, and it continued until he was 13. This seems to have left an imprint on his attitude towards the opposite sex later on. Even when his music career is on the rise and he has the opportunity to meet many people, he continues to roam around Chicago high schools in search of vulnerable girls to talk to. Gradually, Ar Kelly’s recording studio becomes a den of debauchery, and people in his entourage become experts in finding suitable teenagers to satisfy his terrifying sexual desires.

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