R. Kelly remains under close surveillance

Suicide risk attorneys
R. Kelly remains under close surveillance

07/03/2022, 11:11 p.m.

Shortly after his 30-year sentence, R. Kelly’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against the jail where the abused musician is being held. The New York prosecutor’s office considers the conditions of detention to be justified, in reference to Kelly’s mental state.

The New York prosecutor continues to believe that singer R. Kelly is justified in being in prison under special supervision for those at risk of suicide. On Friday, Kelly’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against the prison because they consider the prison conditions a form of duress due to Kelly’s notoriety. Among other things, they complained, according to People magazine, that he was being held in a Spartan solitary confinement cell because he was classified as at risk of suicide and had to wear clothes made of a particularly rough material. .

Two days later, prosecutors released a statement saying they continued to believe Kelly’s suicidal assessment was justified. Daily conversations with him by prison psychologists led to this assessment, he says. The 55-year-old former pop superstar was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday in an abuse trial. He is currently being held in federal prison in New York’s Brooklyn borough but could be transferred for another trial in early August. Last year, after a weeks-long trial, a jury found the musician guilty on nine counts, including sexual exploitation of minors, kidnapping and bribery. Kelly had always denied the allegations.

The first allegations against the musician, born Robert Sylvester Kelly in Chicago in 1967, date back some 25 years. In 2008, he was tried for possession of serious child sexual abuse images – and was acquitted. The colossus of music seemed unassailable on his pop throne. With over 50 million albums sold, multiple Grammys and other accolades, he was one of the most successful musicians of the late 20th century.

Documentation draws attention

But later when the sensational documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” summed up the allegations in 2019, the singer became increasingly lonely. The stars have distanced themselves from him, as well as radios, streaming services and then his music label RCA, which belongs to Sony Music.

With the conviction in New York, the legal disputes for Kelly are not over: there are also charges against the musician in the American states of Illinois and Minnesota. A trial in Chicago is expected to begin in mid-August.