R. Kelly Is Going On Trial For His “Sex Cult” This Week. Here's What You Need To Know.

For over two decades, R. Kelly has been dogged by unsettling allegations and criticism. There was his marriage to 15-year-old Aaliyah. The video widely believed to show him having sex with and urinating on a minor. The child pornography charges that were dropped. The numerous other allegations of sexual misconduct that were quietly settled.

But Kelly’s luck may finally be running out, as the disgraced R&B singer heads back into the courtroom on Wednesday on the most sweeping and serious charges he has yet faced.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have accused Kelly of being the ringleader behind a criminal “enterprise” that exploited his fame in order to sexually abuse numerous victims, many of whom were underage. He’s been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

According to the indictment, Kelly, with the aid of his staff and entourage, recruited victims for the express purpose of sexually abusing them, isolating them from their loved ones, and dictating their every move. Often, they were young fans, found at Kelly’s own concerts.

“To say that this entire 30-year, 100-million-album–selling career was a criminal enterprise is just really interesting,” said music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who has covered Kelly for decades.

Kelly has been incarcerated in Chicago since July 2019 over another federal sex crimes case he is still facing and was transferred to a Brooklyn jail ahead of his trial there.

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