BY: Denver Sean
Published 6 years ago
R. Kelly spent Saturday night in jail.
At the time of this writing, the once best-selling music artist has yet to post the $100,000 bond payment required for his release and is spending his Sunday behind bars.
via AP:
The 52-year-old R&B star is behind bars in the 7,000-inmate Cook County Jail, according the county sheriff’s online inmate locator. Kelly was charged Friday with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were minors.
In bond court Saturday, a judge set bail at $1 million, requiring Kelly to pay 10 percent to go free.
There are multiple technical issues that could be thwarting Kelly’s efforts to pay, said Joseph Lopez, a criminal defense attorney in Chicago not connected to the Kelly case.
Bond can be paid by credit card, cash or check. Court officials must be able to talk to bank officials directly to confirm that an amount written on a check is covered, and that’s not possible when banks are closed on Sunday, Lopez said.
Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, did not respond to a message seeking comment on Sunday.
Greenberg said at the bond hearing that his Grammy Award-winning client wasn’t wealthy, despite decades of success creating hit songs for himself and others. Greenberg blamed mismanagement, bad contracts and other issues for Kelly’s financial woes.
“This is someone who should be wealthy at this stage of his career. … He really doesn’t have any more money,” he said, arguing for a bail amount within his client’s means. Greenberg said later he was happy with the amount set by the judge, saying he hoped Kelly could be out by Saturday evening.
Disturbing details of the allegations against Kelly emerged Saturday when the prosecution released four detailed documents — one for each accuser — outlining the basis for the charges. The allegations date back as far as 1998 and span more than a decade.
A 16-year-old girl who attended Kelly’s child pornography trial in 2008 got his autograph after a court session. He later invited her to his home in the Chicago suburb of Olympia Fields, where they had sex multiple times, according to the documents, which said he also slapped, choked and spit on her.
In 1998, another girl reported meeting Kelly at a restaurant where she was having a 16th birthday party. Kelly’s manager gave her the singer’s business card and suggested she call Kelly. The girl’s mother heard the exchange, took the card and told the manager her daughter was 16.
But her daughter later retrieved the card from her purse. She contacted Kelly, who gave her instructions and money that she assumed was for the taxi fare to his studio, where they had sex periodically for a year, the documents said.
In early 2003, a Chicago hairdresser told prosecutors that she thought she was going to braid Kelly’s hair, but he pulled down his pants and instead tried to force her to give him oral sex. The woman, who was 24, was able to pull away, but Kelly ejaculated on her and spit in her face, the documents said.
Prosecutors also described a witness who had access to videotapes showing Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The witness turned a tape over to authorities and identified the girl, who repeatedly stated her age on the footage, according to the documents.
Kelly’s DNA was found in semen on one of the accuser’s shirts, and semen found on a shirt worn by another was submitted for DNA testing, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said. It was not clear when the accusers turned the shirts over to authorities, whether it was shortly after the abuse or more recently.
At the bond hearing, Greenberg said his client is not a flight risk. He told the judge, “Contrary to the song, Mr. Kelly doesn’t like to fly.” One of Kelly’s best-known hits is “I Believe I Can Fly.”
After the hearing, Greenberg told reporters that Kelly did not force anyone to have sex.
“He’s a rock star. He doesn’t have to have nonconsensual sex,” Greenberg said.
The judge ordered Kelly to surrender his passport, ending his hopes of doing a tour of Europe in April. Kelly defiantly scheduled concerts in Germany and the Netherlands despite the cloud of legal issues looming over him. Greenberg denied that any tour was planned.
He can rot in jail forever as long as we’re concerned.