R. Kelly Accuser Lisa Van Allen Says Kelly's 30-Year Sentencing Is 'Just The Beginning'

R. Kelly accuser, Lisa Van Allen, is speaking out following Wednesday's court ruling which saw the R&B singer sentenced to 30 years in prison in his racketeering and sex trafficking case.

Allen reacted to the ruling in a conversation with Variety, telling the outlet that the sentence was fitting after he "preyed on your girls and boys for over 30 years."

"He preyed on young girls and boys for over 30 years — it only seems fit that he’s put away for the same amount of time," Van Allen, who was the star witness in 2008 when Kelly was in court for child pornography, said.

While she said the evidence was against Kelly back in 2008, no one listened, and Kelly was acquitted. 

Van Allen first met the singer on the set of a music video when she was a minor. She later ended up being a part of a sex tape, which she claims she was coerced into appearing in, something she talked discussed while appearing in Lifetime’s 2019 docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

Despite the trauma she endured at the hands of Kelly, Van Allen says she is proud to be part of "the solution" and is thankful that her story and the stories of countless accusers impacted by Kelly's abuse have been heard.

"Reflecting back on trial in 2008, I’m so proud to see how far we have come 14 years later," she shared. "It brings me nothing but joy to know that I am, and will continue, to be part of the solution. I am thankful for everyone that let us be heard. I do it for anyone who feels voiceless — know that you are not alone."

Kelly's sentencing, Van Allen added, is "just the beginning."

"We aren’t victims. We are survivors," she maintained. "Our work isn’t done, this is just the beginning."

U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly handed down Kelly's sentence Wednesday, nine months after the 55-year-old was found guilty on one count of racketeering and eight violations of the Mann Act by a federal jury in Brooklyn. 

He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and a $100,000 fine.

"These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years," Judge Donnelly told Kelly as she handed down the sentence. "You taught them that love is enslavement and violence."

Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the singer was also accused of knowingly infecting some accusers with a sexually transmitted disease, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor and producing child pornography.

Following Wednesday's sentencing, legal expert Jesse Weber tells ET that the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries Van Allen appeared in was pivotal in the prosecution of the case.

"This is the sentence I was expecting for R. Kelly and I think a lot of people were expecting," he says. "When you get convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering, you expect a large prison sentence and this is exactly what we saw here."

"A stiff prison sentence sends the message to the world, one, that no one is above the law, two, the gravity of these offences can not be taken lightly and I think number three, which is probably the most important, the words of these victims, the words of these survivors really played a factor in this sentencing decision," he continues. "I think this is effectively a life sentence for R. Kelly, he's going to spend the rest of his time on Earth behind bars."

Outside of New York, Kelly, who has been jailed without bail since 2019, faces multiple charges in Illinois and Minnesota, including aggravated sexual abuse, child pornography, enticement of a minor, obstruction of justice, prostitution and solicitation of a minor. His Chicago trial is scheduled to begin in August.

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