R. Kelly accuser reacts to the singer’s 30-year sentence for sex trafficking, racketeering
After singer and producer R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for federal sex trafficking and racketeering, one of his victims, Lizzette Martinez, spoke to reporters and said, “I never thought that he would be held accountable for the atrocious things that he did to children.”
Video Transcript
LIZETTE MARTINEZ: Today it was a very special but hard day for us. I personally, this happened to me a long time ago, I was 17. I'm 45 today. I never thought that I would be here to see him be held accountable for the atrocious things that he did to children. I don't know what else to say, except that I'm grateful. I'm grateful for today. And I'm grateful that Robert Sylvester Kelly is away, will stay away, and will not be able to harm anyone else. Thank you.
- Lizette, what did he do to your life?
LIZETTE MARTINEZ: He ruined it.
- Tell us how.
LIZETTE MARTINEZ: I was an up and coming singer. I was a girl full of life, very innocent, but very driven. And preyed upon, basically, at the mall in Aventura, Florida and promised just a mentorship and quickly turned into, I would just say, a sex slave.
- Talk about the sentence.
- Is 30 years enough?
- Do you think the sentence was enough?
LIZETTE MARTINEZ: I personally don't think it's enough, but I'm pleased with it. It's fine.
