US singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his celebrity status to sexually abuse children and women.
The R&B artist, 55, was condemned last September in New York of racketeering and sex trafficking crimes.
He had faced years of allegations and the judge on Wednesday said he had an “indifference to human suffering”
Lawyers for the singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, said he will appeal.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly said the celebrity had used sex as a weapon, forcing his victims to do unspeakable things and saddling them with incurable diseases.
“You taught them that love is enslavement and violence,” she said.
The court heard how Kelly – known for hit songs like I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition – used his influence to lure women and children into sexual abuse over two decades.
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