Voices: R Kelly’s prison sentence is the least men like him deserve

The most striking thing about this case? That it’s not striking at all (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

On Wednesday 29 June, the rapper R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison, after being found guilty for sex trafficking and racketeering last year.

Breon Peace, US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said Kelly showed a “callous disregard for the devastation his crimes had on his victims and has shown no remorse for his conduct”, despite facing seven of his victims in court and hearing of the impact his actions had on them. Some of them were just children when the abuse began.

One victim, Jovante Cunningham – who first met Kelly at age 14 and worked as a backing dancer for him – said his abuse had spanned 30 years and “30 years is what he got”. “When you are taught to be quiet and to keep silent about things that should be spoken about openly, you find yourself reclused and that often affords people the ability to manipulate you,” she said outside Brooklyn Federal Court in New York.

Another, identified only as Angela, called the singer a “Pied Piper” figure who “grew in wickedness” with every new victim. Another said: “I literally wished I would die because of how you made me feel.”

And the most striking thing about this case, sickening as it is? That it’s not striking at all.

How many times have we sat and listened to women sob and recount harrowing episodes of trauma at the hands of older, more powerful men? How many times have we seen those men smirk in court and fail to repent? How many times have we seen them react as though their trials are a chance to build their personal brands, to peacock in front of fans – old and new?

This story is as old as the ages: man with fame and money preys on younger, more vulnerable victims – most often women – and assumes he can, and will, get away with it. Just think of Harvey Weinstein, currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault, now facing two charges of indecent assault against a woman in London in 1996. There are others, too.

Something is clearly very, very rotten in the cult of male celebrity – even at home, even in Westminster, where our high-profile politicians are mired in sleaze – and we need to stamp it out.

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Because it doesn’t end with the abuse. This behaviour has a ripple effect that lasts decades; not just for the victims themselves, but all those who see what men like this can get away with for so long – and assume they can do the same.

Steve K Francis, acting executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who announced R Kelly’s sentencing outside court and called the singer a “prolific serial predator”, described what followed for the women he preyed upon.

“Robert Kelly is a prolific serial predator who utilised his wealth and fame to prey on the young and vulnerable by dangling promises of fame, fortune and stardom for his own sexual gratification,” he said. “For nearly 30 years, Kelly and his accomplices silenced his victims through bribery, intimidation, blackmail and physical violence, confident they were immune to justice.”

In other words: Kelly assumed that he could, and would, get away with it. And he was helped.

That’s the really insidious part, you see, about men like Kelly, with celebrity backing – they rarely seem to operate alone. They have “yes” men (and sometimes women) surrounding them; a sickening gaggle of sycophants who leave their morals at the door and actively overlook the most heinous, grievous wrongs; so blinded (or enamoured, or even fearful, who knows) by the status of the person they’re protecting that they enable them. They encourage it – actively seek victims out, and, in some cases, help cover it up. They then try to stop those victims from ever speaking out – or being believed.

In Kelly’s case, it was members of his entourage – the jury heard that he used his group of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, amounting to a “criminal enterprise”, prosecutors said.

One woman who testified in court described how she was approached and intimidated by those in the singer’s inner circle for years. Sonja (whose last name has been withheld to protect her identity) told the Los Angeles Times after the sentencing: “I’ve been followed, I’ve been approached at networking events,” she said. “It happened a few different times.” On each occasion, she said she immediately got away from the person who was chatting with her and went “off the grid for a few days”.

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We’ve seen the impact of facilitating this kind of abuse: just this week, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s “yes” woman, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty in December of trafficking girls as young as 14.

Gloria Allred, who represented three of Kelly’s victims in court, told reporters that “no one can undo the harm” that has been done to victims’ lives. She’s right. But people can stop aiding and abetting the men who do this. They can stop worshipping at the toxic altar of male entitlement, ego and celebrity. They can call it out.

In sentencing Kelly, US District Judge Ann Donnelly said the celebrity had used sex as a weapon, forcing his victims to do unspeakable things and saddling some with sexually transmitted diseases. She said the public “has to be protected from behaviours like this”, and added: “These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years. You taught them that love is enslavement and violence.”

Kelly’s time in prison, at 30 years, isn’t nearly enough. The women he abused are already suffering a life sentence because of what he did. He deserves the same – maybe then he’ll feel some remorse.