A federal judge ordered disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly to pay more than $300,000 to one of his victims in a decades-long strategy to use his fame to sexually abuse underage fans.
U.S. District Judge Ann Connelly’s restitution ruling, which was still being finalised, is intended to pay for the expense of herpes treatment and counseling.
The victim, who only goes by the name Jane, has claimed that R. Kelly, who is currently in jail, gave her the STD during one of their encounters.
Once the total is determined, Kelly, whose attorney asserts that he only has $28,000 in his account, may also be required to pay tens of thousands of dollars extra for counseling and herpes treatment for a second victim.
The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling songwriter attended the hearing in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, September 28, via video from a prison in Chicago.
He didn’t say much other than to greet the judge and decline an invitation to say more. The victims weren’t present at the event.
After a jury found Kelly guilty of racketeering and other offences, Donnelly sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison in June.
According to the prosecutors, the 55-year-old Kelly used his fame and fortune over the course of more than two decades to entice women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.
In Chicago, Kelly was also found guilty last month on separate counts of child pornography and seducing underage girls.
He is awaiting sentencing in that case and is also being tried on a number of state crimes in Minnesota and Illinois.
Judge Donnelly turned down the prosecutor’s demands on Wednesday to compensate Jane for lost wages and to provide any sort of restitution to Sonja, a third victim, after ordering Kelly to pay $300,000.
