Disgraced musician R. Kelly and his legal team have been fighting for his freedom since he was arrested in 2019 on federal sexual assault charges. His latest case, which involved some charges, was a legal victory for Kelly and his representatives, as prosecutors in the case decided to drop the charges they had filed against the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer.
R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2022
The charges against R. Kelly were filed after the Lifetime documentary premiered Survivors of R. Kelly, which chronicled Kelly’s years of abuse through the words of some of the survivors. After Survivors of R. Kelly, Kelly was charged in February 2019 in Chicago with 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault, followed by 11 more in May. (He gave his now-infamous interview with Gayle King in March 2019, where he maintained his innocence and exclaimed, “I’m fighting for my damn life.”) In July 2019, a Chicago grand jury indicted him on 13 counts, including child pornography, seduction of a minor and obstruction of justice.
In 2021, a New York jury found Kelly guilty of charges including child sexual exploitation, extortion, bribery and human trafficking for sexual purposes. The jury found that prosecutors proved that Kelly was at the head of a criminal conspiracy to recruit and coerce girls, boys and women into sex. In 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
R. Kelly abuse charges in Chicago dismissed
Kelly continues to face charges after his conviction in New York, including a case in Chicago that involved sexually abusing four people, three of whom were minors. But in January 2023, the prosecution team decided to drop the charges.
According to the Associated Press, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has announced that she will ask a judge to dismiss the charges Kelly is facing. Foxx, who in 2019 asked women and girls with stories about Kelly to come forward so she could press charges against him, acknowledged that her decision “may be a disappointment” to his accusers who have come forward with their stories.
“Mr. Kelly is potentially considering the possibility of never leaving prison again for the crimes he committed,” the prosecutor said, referring to Kelly’s federal convictions. justice served.”
Responses to case abandonment
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, was “pleased” with the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charges and let her client alone. “He only has one life to give. So I don’t know how many sentences after sentences would satisfy people,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lanita Carter, who claimed she was sexually assaulted by R. Kelly in 2003, said she was “extremely disappointed” by the prosecutor’s decision. “I spent almost 20 years hoping that my abuser would be brought to justice for what he did to me. With today’s announcement, any hope for justice in my case has been dashed,” she said, adding that she trusted Foxx and her office her story and her hope that it will bring him to justice.“I was denied justice,” she said.
In December 2022, Kelly released a self-titled album from prison I admit it.
