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American R&B star, R Kelly who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, more than 20 years after first facing allegations, has been moved from Chicago correctional centre to a medium-security prison in North Carolina.
According to AP News, the R&B singer was transferred from the Metropolitan Correctional Centre Chicago to the federal correctional institution in Butner, North Carolina, on April 19, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Benjamin O’Cone.
The bureau, however, did not reveal the reasons for the singer’s transfers, citing privacy, safety, and security concerns.
A federal judge in Chicago sentenced the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, 56, to 20 years in prison in February for child pornography and enticement of minors for sex.
He will serve all but one of those concurrently with a separate 30-year sentence in New York for racketeering and sex trafficking convictions.
Kelly, who has vehemently denied the allegations, rose from obscurity in Chicago to become one of the world’s most famous R&B artists. Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and sex-infused songs like “Bump n’ Grind,” he sold millions of albums even after allegations of sexual abuse against him surfaced in the 1990s.
Kelly’s conviction was seen as a victory for survivors of sexual violence, particularly those who may hesitate to speak out against abusers, for fear of retribution, The Guardian reports.
At the trial, victims had described how Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.
Several victims said he would demand that they strictly obey rules such as needing his permission to eat or go to the bathroom and writing “apology letters” that purported to absolve him of wrongdoing.
Ahead of sentencing on Wednesday, some of the victims made statements, including “Angela”, who said, “With every addition of a new victim you grew in wickedness”. On this day of sentencing “we reclaim our names”, she said. “We are no longer the preyed-upon individuals we once were
