Support truly
independent journalism
R. Kelly, the former musician found guilty of committing various sex crimes against children, has asked the Supreme Court to vacate his 2023 child sex crimes conviction, claiming the law used to charge him was improperly filed.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Kelly filed an appeal with the high court, arguing that the federal PROTECT Act, a 2003 law that allows prosecutors to pursue charges for child sex abusers during the lifetime of the child, does not apply to Kelly’s case because the abuse occurred before the act was made law.
Federal prosecutors in Chicago brought 13 charges against Kelly, under the PROTECT Act, in 2020 for crimes he committed against three underage girls in the 1990s.
He was convicted on six of those charges including creating child pornography and coercing minors into illegal sexual activity. Kelly is currently serving a 20-year sentence for that conviction.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lawyer, said when Congress drafted the 2003 law they “did not express an intent” for it to be applied retroactively.
“Consistent with the well-established presumption against retroactive legislation, the 2003 amendment is inapplicable to the charged conduct,” Bonjean wrote.
Now she’s asking the Supreme Court to consider whether the law should apply to Kelly.
Already, a federal appeals court in Northern Illinois ruled against Kelly earlier this year. A three-judge panel for the 7th Circuit said that the law was correctly applied because the three victims are still alive and that it is not unconstitutional to apply laws retroactively.
It is not the first time Kelly has asked a court to overturn one of his various child sex crime convictions.
Though Kelly was convicted in Illinois in 2022, he was also convicted on nine counts of similar crimes in New York in 2021.
He is currently appealing his 2021 New York conviction, arguing that he was unfairly charged with violating RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, for leading a ring of individuals who recruited women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity.
The Supreme Court does not have to take up Kelly’s case – the vast majority of petitions to the court are denied.
