CHICAGO — In a split verdict after a hotly contested trial, a federal jury in Chicago on Wednesday convicted disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly on child pornography charges for videotaping himself sexually abusing his then-14-year-old goddaughter decades ago.
Kelly was also found guilty on three out of five counts related to enticement of a minor. But in a rare blow for federal prosecutors, the jury acquitted Kelly and two co-defendants on charges they conspired to retrieve incriminating tapes and hide Kelly’s sexual misdeeds.
After about 11 hours of deliberation, the jury found Kelly, 55, guilty of three of the first four counts of the indictment, which charged the singer with the sexual exploitation of “Jane” for the purpose of producing child pornography.
