R.KELLY
Human trafficking is the act of trading human beings with the aim of forced labor, sexual slavery, and commercial sexual exploitation by the traffickers or others. It is a crime to carry out human trafficking, as highlighted in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000. In the event, R. Kelly, as alleged, was involved in human trafficking, he committed a crime. It is alleged that R. Kelly Enterprise was not only engaged in music, but also in human trafficking that involved young women and men who had the ambition of meeting the music star. Their ambition of meeting him turned a nightmare by experiencing rape, pornography, and forced labor. The musician is alleged he turned a predator and coaxed some into despicable sex acts while some of his enterprises facilitated the deviant conduct. He faces 11 counts of sexual assault and abuse from charges filled in Chicago, Illinois. These counts include four that involve aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of aggravated sexual abuse, and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse against a victim aged 13 to 16. In February, he was also charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Chicago for allegedly abusing four women, with three of them being underage. He has however, pleaded not guilty. In reflection of the alleged offenses, R. Kelly has committed a crime of human trafficking. One, he forced underage to indulge in sex, which is regarded as sex trafficking. It is alleged he used force, coercion, and also fraud to perpetrate this deviant conduct. He has also been accused of forced labor against underage. It resulted in his arrest and being charged with misconduct that revolves around human trafficking.
It is essential to highlight some of the critical issues in indictment form that demonstrate that Kelly propelled racketeering, transportation for prostitution, and coercion. It has been established that Kelly had a rule for women that included not allowing them to eat or use the bathroom and not being allowed to look at other men, so they had to keep their heads down. The indictment has also highlighted Kelly’s efforts to interfere with witnesses and evidence by paying millions of dollars to ensure they will not cooperate with prosecution. The payment also aimed to enhance a cover-up of sexually explicit videos of Kelly with underage girls. The prosecutor has also highlighted the use of physical abuse, violence, and blackmail to ensure the victims will not provide evidence to police. A U.S attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick also highlighted the indictment contains charges that revolve around child abuse images and even obstruction of justice.
In the case of fraud, Kelly manages to deceive his victims using his position in society as a music star. Many women fall for his racketeering enterprise that targeted women and girls who were attending his concerts. The racket victims made them available to engage in illegal sexual activities with him at a moment’s notice. He used his fame and as a leader of a racketeering enterprise to recruit women and girls without their knowledge ending up to engage in illegal sexual misconduct with him and others in his entourage. In some cases, Kelly identified women and girls during concerts, and the members of the entourage would escort them backstage. In other instances, he exchanged contacts with girls so that the enterprise could organize travel arrangements and also lodging. These women were not aware of Kelly’s plan but thought it was good for them only to be subjected to coerced sex.
Force arises when women must indulge in sex without their consent. As highlighted with travel organized and lodging, women were forced to indulge in sex without their consent with either R. Kelly or other members of the entourage. For coercion, it is about persuading the women to indulge in sexually related activities through money and promises that later turned out to be a fraud.
Some of the major milestones that were essential for Robert Kelly as per the Lifecourse theory include the timing of lives. Individual time was critical since they positively influenced his career. He was able to produce music that matched the expectations of the fans. The music connected well with the people, and it serves as the major factor that made him a music star not only in America but the entire world. He was able to understand different generations’ time and adjusting perfectly as a musician for him to remain relevant in the industry. It enabled him to make significant wealth from music and impacted lives. Historical time was impactful to him as t enabled him to continuously adjust as per the world changed to match the expectation of the people in the music industry. However, the issue of human trafficking and sex trafficking is still enjoined to timing and lives. During his generational time, having many women was associated with a better lifestyle and was highly recognized. At that moment, women were not conversant with the law, and they failed to report the matter. In the current times, change has enabled people to understand their rights, and thus it has become clear to them that Kelly was conducting a crime through his racketeering enterprise. He was out to entice his entourage and himself though propelling the ideas that were associated with being a celebrity. The transition process was also critical and defined his milestone in his career. He was able to effectively transit from adolescence without major problems to overcome, such as drugs, and mainly focused on his career, a critical factor that ensured his success. The mistake he committed during his youth age and when on his top are emerging at this age as the theory reflects on issues of history. The historical is used to reflect on issues that affected people in the past. Social and cultural ideologies, economic cycles, and events have been highlighted to define individual lives and careers. In the case of R. Kelly, the social and cultural ideologies led him to uphold some of the issues highlighted in court. It was the lifestyle of a music star, but things have changed with the government creating laws to control the issue of sex trafficking.
Based on Critical Race Criminology, what are some of the complexities for Robert Kelly as a well-known African American entertainer?
Critical race theory holds that race is a socially fashioned concept, and it functions as a means to maintain the interests of the White populous that created it. CRT emphasizes inequalities that are experienced by people arises from the economic, social, and legal differences that white people create between races. The inequality enables the elite white interests in labor markets, and politics are creating the circumstances that contribute to poverty and criminality in several communities. In this context, Kelly had several complexities, such as high chances of facing harsh ruling since the theory emphasizes inequality that exists between the whites and other races. Other complexities include women experiencing many women willing to indulge in sex or just to be associated with him or in his entourage. In this context, he might be a victim of the situation where he was blackmailed by women or some people who wanted to ruin his music career. People might be looking for compensation after consenting to indulge in sex with him and later tilt the truth of the whole issue. There could be other people in our society with a malicious mindset who want R. Kelly to go down after accomplishing so much in the music industry. It can be done through lawsuits and assembling of malicious witnesses who are after the compensation or his imprisonment. The CTR theory highlights the issue of justice where people of color are vulnerable to harsh sentences and also being victimized for crimes they have not committed.
The government took too long to press charges since there were no complaints. Charges are pressed when an individual makes a complaint, and law enforcement officers must validate the provided information. They have to collect adequate information through their investigation for them to have a strong case before the judge. In this consideration, the government acted after complaints reported the issue with their intention for them to get justice. In the past, such accusations have been witnessed, but R. Kelly managed to win, and thus it required the government representatives to be thorough by organizing witnesses, among other factors. Moreover, similar accusations arose in different states, and thus critical measures were required to witness the success of these cases. Judges and jury rely on evidence provided before them, and thus witnesses and victims were needed to be gathered and prepared before prosecution started.
The media has played a critical role in this case. It is important to note that media influence in our society is great, to some extent, forces the responsible institutions or organs to react. In this case, law enforcement institutions had to react after the media focused on this issue heavily. It included meeting the victims or the plaintiff and having their position known by the people. Media also reached R. Kelley through his lawyer and also the law enforcement authority. For law enforcement authorities, they were expected to tell the public how they were handling the issue and the possibilities of successfully prosecuting Kelly. It all revolves around transparency, with the media also present in courts to follow the progress of the case. R. Kelly is seen as a role model to many, and thus being associated with such heinous misconduct in a society that terms human trafficking as an unethical. Media also influenced institutions that deal with children and the rights of women. These institutions were so interested in being enjoined in the case to support victims and ensure justice at the end. In this case, the media were able to contact some of the people that had worked with R. Kelly on different occasions. Confidants were also contacted, and it had their say on the issue, and thus the law enforcement could trace some of the key people to assist in case prosecution.