R. KELLY GETS 30 YEARS

Disgraced R&B star R. Kelly, 55, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, having previously been found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering.

Prosecutors successfully portrayed Kelly as a serial sexual predator who capitalized on his fame to trap, enslave and abuse teenage girls and whose crimes spanned decades.

Legally known as Robert Kelly, he faced persistent rumors of sexual assault in the 1990s, lent credence by his marriage to a teenage Aaliyah. He beat child-pornography charges in 2008.

Kelley was dropped by Sony and RCA and prosecuted again in the wake of the 2019 documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, executive produced by filmmaker and music critic Dream Hampton, in which his victims told their stories.