(Washington) The United States Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of singer R. Kelly, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex crimes against minors in Chicago .
The R&B singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2022 of three counts of producing images of sexual assault of minors and three counts of enticing minors into relationships sexual.
His lawyers argued that a shorter statute of limitations for sex crimes against minors should have applied to offenses dating back to the 1990s. Current law allows for prosecutions as long as the accuser is still alive.
The justices did not detail their reasons for refusing to hear the case, as is usually the case. None of them publicly expressed their disagreement.
Lower courts had previously rejected the defense arguments.
Federal prosecutors said the video showed Kelly sexually assaulting a girl. The accuser, identified only as “Jane,” testified that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-time 1998 Grammy winner also appealed a separate 30-year prison sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.