Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented three of the six victims who testified in the case, said R. Kelly is the “worst” predator she has ever pursued.
“I have been practicing law for 47 years. During this time I have pursued many sexual predators who have committed crimes against women and children. Of all the predators that I have pursued, however, Mr. Kelly is the worst, for many reasons,” she told reporters.
“First, he used the power of his celebrity to recruit vulnerable underage girls for the purpose of sexually abusing them. These were not May-October relationships, which is what his defense attorney wanted the jury to believe — these were crimes against children and some adults,” Allred said.
“Second, to use the power of his business enterprise and many of his inner circle employees to assist him and enable him in his plan and his scheme to lure his victims to him, isolate them, intimidate them, control them, indoctrinate them, punish them, shame them, and humiliate them. All of which made Mr. Kelly more powerful and more dangerous than many other sexual predators who operate without a network of financial and businesses to support and enable them,” Allred added.
She said another reason was that the government proved Kelly had genital herpes and did not disclose that information to victims or wear contraception to protect them.
“As a result, many of his victims contracted this STD from him and will be forced to suffer from it for the rest of their lives,” Allred said.
The fourth reason, Allred said was in many cases “after grooming, isolating, and intimidating his child victims, recorded them being sexually abused and humiliated by them.”
“He directed these videos and produced them, not only for his own sexual gratification but, in some instances, for the purpose of using these videos to silence and threaten his victims with public exposure of these tapes if they ever revealed what he had done to them. These tapes were not sex tapes: They were child pornography, which is a crime,” she said.
Allred said she was proud of her clients who spoke up and told their truth during the trial.
“R Kelly thought that he could get away with all of this but he didn’t because despite the fact that he thought he could control all of his victims, he was wrong,” Allred said.
“Because of their courage and the outstanding work of federal agents and prosecutors in this case, justice has been done,” Allred added. “Let this be a message to other celebrities who also use their fame to prey on their fans and others who are unfortunate enough to come into contact with them: You’re also likely to face serious consequences for your criminal conduct.”