R Kelly acquitted of all indecent sex charges
Jury begins deliberations in R Kelly sex tape case
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Saturday, 14, Jun 2008 03:48
US singer R Kelly has been acquitted by a Chicago jury of 14 charges of child pornography levelled against him.
The Ignition singer was arrested in 2002 after a newspaper was sent a video of the R 'n' B star allegedly having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The case which revolved around the tape in question saw the prosecution and defence make claims about the validity of the video and the identity of the man in the video.
The defence argued that the video was not genuine despite forensic video evidence to the contrary.
Kelly's lawyers argued that he had a "significant" coin-sized mole on his back - going so far as to show the jury pictures of the singer's blemish - but the man in the footage did not appear to have a mole.
The prosecution described its case as being "concrete" claiming that the singer was the one in the sex video. Attorney Shauna Boliker said: "It is here and it [the video] has got him on it with that child.
"This is not a whodunnit. It is a he-did-it. He is the child pornographer," she added.
During the trial, expert witnesses from the FBI also testified on the authenticity of the tape. Kelly faced a 15-year jail sentence if found guilty of making and owning indecent images of children.