R. Kelly Acquitted of Child Porn Charges

R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges Friday after less than a day of deliberations in his child pornography trial, ending a six-year ordeal for the R&B superstar.

Kelly dabbed his face with a handkerchief and hugged each of his four attorneys after the verdict — not guilty on all 14 counts — was read. The Grammy award-winning singer had faced 15 years in prison if convicted.

Minutes later, surrounded by bodyguards, he left the courthouse without comment. Dozens of fans screamed and cheered as he climbed into a waiting SUV.

"All I heard (from Kelly) while those 14 verdicts were being read was 'Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus,'" said Sam Adam Jr., one of his attorneys.

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Prosecutors had argued that a video tape mailed to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2002 showed Kelly engaged in graphic sex acts with a girl as young as 13 at the time. Both Kelly, 41, and the now 23-year-old alleged victim had denied they were the ones on the tape. Neither testified during the trial.

"Robert said all along that he believed in our system and he believed in God — and that when all the facts came out in court, he would be cleared of these terrible charges," according to a statement from his publicist, Allen Mayer. "But he never dreamed it would take six and a half years. This has been a terrible ordeal for him and his family and at this point all he wants to do is move forward and put it behind him."

The prosecution's star witness was a woman who said she engaged in three-way sex with Kelly and the alleged victim. Defense attorneys argued the man on the tape didn't have a large mole on his back; Kelly has such a mole.

The monthlong trial centered on whether Kelly was the man who appears on a sexually graphic, 27-minute videotape at the heart of the case, and whether a female who also appears on it was underage.

Over seven days presenting their case, prosecutors called 22 witnesses, including several childhood friends of the alleged victim and four of her relatives who identified her as the female on the video.

In just two days, Kelly's lawyers called 12 witnesses. They included three relatives of the alleged victim who testified they did not recognize her as the female on the tape.

Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Shauna Boliker said she believed the female on the tape was a victim, not a prostitute as the defense had contended.

"This shows the world how difficult this crime is to prosecute," she said. "It also takes the soul of the victim, the heart of the victim."

Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for "I Believe I Can Fly," and is known for such raunchy hits as "Bump N' Grind," "Ignition," and for "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart saga about the sexual secrets of an ever-expanding cast of characters.

Of the 12 jurors, nine were men and three were women; eight were white and four were black. They included the wife of a Baptist preacher from Kelly's Chicago-area hometown, Olympia Fields, as well as a compliance officer for a Chicago investment firm and a man in his 60s who emigrated from then-Communist Romania nearly 40 years ago.

Despite his legal troubles, Kelly — who rose from poverty on Chicago's South Side to become a star singer, songwriter and producer — still retains a huge following, and his popularity has arguably grown in recent years.

The singer has released more than half a dozen albums, most of them selling over a million copies. He's also had a multitude of hits and gone on tours. Kelly has a new song, "Hair Braider," out now, and is due to release a new album in July.

Kelly, always meticulously dressed in a suit and tie, appeared tense at times during the trial, furrowing his brow. He seemed particularly ill at ease when prosecutors played the sex tape in open court after opening arguments.

In the video, entered into evidence as "People's Exhibit No. 1," a man has sex with a young female, who is naked for most of the recording. She is often blank-faced. The man speaks to her in a hushed voice, and she calls him "Daddy."

In one scene, alluded to in one count of the indictment, the man urinates on the female.

The issue of whether there was or wasn't a fingernail-sized mole on the man's lower was a subject of hours of testimony. A defense witness told jurors there was no mole on his back, proving it's not Kelly, who has such a mole. But a prosecution witness displayed freeze frames of the video where a dark spot seemed to appear as the man turns to take off his pants.

One surreal moment came when a defense expert played a segment of the tape he doctored showing two headless bodies engaging in sex. The defense said that backed their argument that Kelly's likeness could have been computer-generated.

Cross examination was often heated. Several witnesses cried on the stand.

The star prosecution witness, Lisa Van Allen, became teary eyed as she told jurors she engaged in several three-way sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim, including once on a basketball court. Kelly videotaped the trysts, she said.

Van Allen also claimed Kelly used to carry a duffel bag stuffed full of his homemade sex tapes.

The defense called several witnesses in a bid to discredit Van Allen, accusing her of trying to extort money from Kelly. Under cross-examination, Van Allen admitted she once stole Kelly's $20,000 diamond-studded watch from a hotel.

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CHICAGO -- A total of 34 prosecution and defense witnesses have testified in R. Kelly's child pornography trial. As the case comes to a close, someone won't be taking the stand: The man on trial himself.

Closing arguments were set to begin Thursday without jurors having heard from the R&B singer, who on Tuesday told the judge he doesn't plan to testify.

Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl. Both Kelly and the alleged victim, now 23, have denied being on the tape. The alleged victim also never testified.

Prosecutors claim she was as young as 13 when the tape was made. Now 23, the woman has been identified at the trial, but The Associated Press does not name suspected victims of child pornography in most cases. She has not spoken publicly about the case.

Four family members have testified for the prosecution that she is the person on the tape; three have testified for the defense that she's not.

The judge has ruled that jurors can view the sex tape once they begin deliberating. They already got a look at it within hours of opening statements, and prosecutors entered the VHS tape into the record as "People's Exhibit No. 1."

Over two days, Kelly's lawyers called 12 witnesses. One was a forensics expert who testified there didn't appear to be a mole on the back of the man in the sex tape. Defense attorneys claim Kelly has a mole on his back, so the man on the tape can't be him. But the prosecution challenged that claim.

After attorneys make their final cases Thursday, the nine-man, four-woman jury could begin deliberating later in the day.

Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for "I Believe I Can Fly," and is known for such raunchy songs as "Bump N' Grind," "Ignition," and for "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart saga about the sexual secrets of a lively and ever-expanding cast of characters.

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CHICAGO -- R. Kelly told the judge in his child pornography trial Tuesday that he doesn't plan to testify.

After Judge Vincent Gaughan told Kelly he had a right to not take the stand, the R&B singer leaned forward at the defense table with his hands folded and, speaking for the first time at the trial, responded: "I decided not to testify."

The jury wasn't in the room at the time.

Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl. Both Kelly and the alleged victim, now 23, have denied being on the tape.

Also Tuesday, the judge ruled that jurors can view the sex tape once they begin deliberating.

Kelly's lawyers had asked the judge to bar jurors from reviewing the graphic video, saying they worried jurors would overemphasize one piece of evidence. But prosecutors argued the tape is the primary subject of the trial and couldn't be kept from jurors.

"People's Exhibit No. 1 is the actual nucleus of the case ... the evidence centers around this exhibit," said prosecutor Shauna Boliker.

Gaughn agreed, but added that he would instruct the jurors before they begin deliberating that they shouldn't put too much emphasis on the tape alone.

A prosecution witness also took the stand for a second time to rebut defense claims about the tape. The defense and prosecution both have rested their cases but video expert Grant Fredericks' testimony is part of the prosecution's right of rebuttal.

A version of the video that the defense used in presenting their case was misleading because it was such low quality, Fredericks told jurors.

The defense argued that in their version of the tape there is no mole on the back of the man who appeared, proving the man is not Kelly, who has such a mole.

But Fredericks says higher quality versions of the tape clearly show a mole on the man's back.

The defense and prosecutors also sparred in court Tuesday about who made certain copies of the tape and whether that may have undermined the defense's case.

Closing arguments are likely to be delivered Thursday.

CHICAGO -- R. Kelly's defense lawyers rested their case Monday after calling about half the number of witnesses as prosecutors in less than half the time.

Kelly's lawyers called 12 witnesses over two days last week at his child pornography case, including three relatives of the alleged victim who testified they did not recognize the female who appears in a sex tape at the heart of the case.

The prosecution called 22 witnesses over seven days. They included several childhood friends of the alleged victim and four of her relatives who identified her as the female on the graphic, 27-minute video.

Kelly and the alleged victim, who both deny being on the tape, never testified.

Jurors sat in court for just minutes Monday morning before Judge Vincent Gaughan sent them home, saying they would have to return Tuesday to hear two rebuttal witnesses for the prosecution.

Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a female who prosecutors say was at young as 13. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for "I Believe I Can Fly," and is known for such raunchy songs as "Bump N' Grind," "Ignition," and for "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart saga about the sexual secrets of a lively and ever-expanding cast of characters.

One observer in the courtroom gallery Monday was actor Eric Lane, who plays the hotheaded character Twan in the "Trapped in the Closet" series.

Closing arguments will likely take place Thursday, Gaughan said.

A lower-back mole — already the focus of hours of testimony — will again be a central issue during Tuesday's rebuttal, prosecutor Shauna Boliker told the judge.