A jury has found R&B superstar R Kelly guilty of being the ringleader of a decades-long racketeering and sex trafficking scheme that preyed upon Black women and children.

The disgraced singer was found guilty on all nine counts on Monday afternoon after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct, in a major #MeToo victory for Black women and girls.

The panel of seven men and five women had begun deliberating the charges on Friday afternoon after prosecutors and defense attorneys finished their closing arguments at the end of a grueling six-week trial in Brooklyn, New York, that often presented shocking testimony detailing Kelly’s abuse of women, girls and boys. He remained motionless, eyes downcast as the verdict was read.

The 54-year-old singer, who was born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was accused of running a Chicago-based criminal enterprise that recruited women and children subjected them to unwanted sex and mental torment. Multiple witnesses said Kelly had forced them to obey perverse and brutal whims when they were underage in a scheme that stretched back more than two decades.

Kelly, perhaps best known for the 1996 smash hit I Believe I Can Fly, had denied any wrongdoing.

The women’s stories received wide exposure after the 2019 Lifetime documentary Surviving R Kelly, which explored claims that an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades.

Months after the release of the film, Kelly was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges of racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery.

Maria Cruz Melendez, for the prosecution, told the jury during the trial that Kelly was a sexual predator who “used every trick in the predator handbook,” luring young women, girls and sometimes boys, with backstage passes. He invited them – some of whom were aspiring musicians who looked up to Kelly as a mentor – to visit his home or the studio, and he often paid for and helped to arrange travel for his victims to see him.

Kelly looked to “exert power over them” and “dominated and controlled them, physically, sexually and psychologically,” Melendez said.

More than a decade has passed since Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child sexual abuse images case in Chicago. It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the #MeToo era caught up with him, emboldening alleged victims to come forward.

More details soon …