R. Kelly Child Sex Crimes Appeal Refused By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has declined to hear R. Kelly‘s appeal over his 2022 convictions on child pornography and enticement charges. The disgraced R&B singer, legal name Robert Kelly, has now exhausted all direct appeals from the verdict, per Billboard.

Kelly’s legal team based its appeal on the argument that the case should have been barred in the first place by the statute of limitations. His attorney Jennifer Bonjean explained to the outlet earlier this year that an updated federal law extending the time limit was passed in 2003, arguing it could not be used in accusations against Kelly’s because his alleged crimes occurred between the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“Retroactive application of the 2003 amendment [does] not only fly in the face of congressional intent,” Bonjean detailed. “It violates notions of fundamental fairness.”

R. Kelly turns to leave after appearing at a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on September 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Kelly is facing multiple sexual assault charges and is being held without bail.

Antonio Perez – Pool via Getty Images

In September 2022, Kelly was found guilty of three of four counts of production of child pornography and three of five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Kelly was found not guilty on all charges related to a conspiracy, and two counts of receiving child pornography. The following February, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

His petition to the Supreme Court was made in July 2024.

According to the Associated Press, Kelly has also appealed a separate 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York. The 57-year-old was convicted of those charges in September 2021.