R. Kelly's mansion headed for foreclosure

voiceofreason

Senior News Editor since 2011
Documents show singer hasn't made a mortgage payment since June 2010

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43733981/ns/today-entertainment/

By Karin Matz
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updated 7/12/2011 9:14:54 PM ET

CHICAGO — Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter R. Kelly has failed to make mortgage payments on his multimillion-dollar Chicago-area home for more than a year and now may lose the property to lenders, court documents show.

In a foreclosure action filed in June in Cook County Circuit Court, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. said that the singer, whose full name is Robert S. Kelly, had not made a monthly payment on the 11,000-square-foot home in Olympia Fields in south suburban Chicago since June 2010.

The suit said the current principal balance on the loan was more than $2.9 million, not including unpaid interest, which accrues at rate of $251 a day.

The original loan issued in 1999 was for $3.5 million, according to the lawsuit, and the monthly payments were $24,345.12.

The property has a number of liens on it, according to the lawsuit, including nearly $2 million from the Department of the Treasury.

The 44-year-old R&B star, who won three Grammy Awards in 1998 for his song "I Believe I Can Fly," is no stranger to controversy. In 2008 a jury acquitted him of child pornography charges.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2011/08/r-kelly-grand-marshal-at-bud-billiken.html#more

Saturday, August 13, 2011
R. Kelly Grand Marshal at Bud Billiken Parade: Inappropriate choice
Posted by Timothy Fitz at 10:43 PM

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Photo: Brian Jackson/Chicago Sun-Times

44-year-old R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, served as the Grand Marshal at the 2011, 82nd annual, Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago.

The native Chicago crooner's appearance at the back-to-school parade has raised more than a few eyebrows.

I'm not sure what the parade organizers were thinking when they chose Kelly, an accused child molester, as Grand Marshal; in fact, I'm not sure the organizers put any effort into the selection process, at all.

Robert Kelly has a history of being entangled with underage girls and his presence at the parade was downright inappropriate.

Back in 1994, Kelly was accused of marrying now deceased singer, Aaliyah.

At the time, Aaliyah was reportedly 15-years-old.


Kelly and Aaliyah denied they were ever married.

Years later, Kelly was accused of videotaping himself having sex with a female minor and urinating on her.

The R&B singer was found not guilty, because the jury wasn't sure it was Kelly on the tape.

It's no secret that some African-American fans, especially black women, vehemently support Kelly's career.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, several women at the Bud Billiken parade said they didn't care about the R&B singer allegedly committing statutory rape and urinating on a 14-year-old girl.

“You’re still my baby, no matter what you did!”� said 36-year-old Leslie Kaizer, reported the Sun-Times.
 
https://pagesix.com/2018/04/30/r-ke...6.1852293746.1524939545-1420961589.1524939545

R. Kelly slammed by Time’s Up leaders for alleged sexual misconduct
By Fox News
April 30, 2018 | 9:39am

The Time’s Up campaign is taking aim at R. Kelly over allegations that he has sexually abused women.

In an open letter posted on social media and on The Root, the women of color committee within Time’s Up called on various companies to sever ties with Kelly for the “safety and dignity for women of all kinds.”

The committee includes Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rimes and Jurnee Smollett-Bell.

The organization devoted to helping women in the aftermath of sexual abuse issued a statement Monday urging further investigation into Kelly’s behavior. It cites among other examples of alleged abuse: his marriage, which was later annulled, to the late Aaliyah when she was just 15, and child pornography charges against him. Kelly has denied wrongdoing, and he was acquitted in 2008 of the child pornography charges. :mad:

Time’s Up is requested action from his label RCA Records and from Apple Music and Spotify, which stream his music.

“… We demand appropriate investigations and inquiries into the allegations of R. Kelly’s abuse made by women of color and their families for over two decades now. And we declare with great vigilance and a united voice to anyone who wants to silence us – their time is up,” the letter stated.
 
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/05/22/r-kelly-lawsuit-std-faith-rogers/


Woman Claims R. Kelly Filmed Nonconsensual Sex, Routinely Locked Her Up
May 22, 2018 at 6:33 am

CHICAGO (CBS) — A woman is suing singer-songwriter R. Kelly for failure to disclose a sexually transmitted disease, and she accuses him of sexual battery. Kelly is one of the most successful R&B singers of all time. His multiple chart-topping hits include “Bump N’ Grind” and “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Kelly is no stranger to controversy. After a series of sexual misconduct allegations by former girlfriends, several music streaming services, including Spotify and Apple, removed Kelly’s songs from their featured playlists. There is also a growing movement online #muterkelly.

Faith Rodgers says she was in a relationship with Kelly when she was 19, for nearly a year before leaving. During that time she says Kelly instructed her to call him “daddy” and would lock her up for hours at a time. Rodgers says he even introduced her to one of the five women Kelly allegedly said he was “raising.”

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https://pagesix.com/2018/05/22/r-ke...48.1315749632.1526842105-403134201.1526842105

R. Kelly sexual assault accuser says he told her she looked ‘about 14’
By Jessica Sager
May 22, 2018 | 1:37pm

The woman accusing R. Kelly of sexual assault and of infecting her with genital herpes claims he told her she looked “about 14.”

Faith Rodgers said she first met Kelly, 51, at a concert in San Antonio, Texas, last year when she was 19, in an interview with “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday. Following months of texting, he flew her out to New York for a concert, after which she claims he came to her hotel room, turned out the lights and “demanded … with authority in his voice” that she take off her clothes.

Although she didn’t feel ready, she eventually submitted to the encounter, which she said he recorded without her consent. “He has this type of intimidation right off the bat, so I was just waiting for it to be over,” she explained.

Rodgers claimed that after they had sex he asked her how old she was and told her, “You know if you’re really 16, you can tell Daddy, right? … You know, you look about 14, 15, 16.”

“He doesn’t act his age,” she added. “You feel like, ‘I’m chilling with somebody I went to high school with.'”

In addition to forcing her to engage in “non-permissive, painful and abusive sex,” Rogers alleged that Kelly also knowingly infected her with genital herpes.

She recorded a phone call with the singer, allegedly at the behest of the police, in hopes he’d admit to giving her an STD, but he refused to address it, telling her, “I don’t know about no situation. I don’t talk about nothing to nobody on the phone. I don’t do that. I don’t care what the situation is.”

She also alluded to the singer’s infamous “sex cult.” She claimed that Kelly said he “raises” five women, some of whom had been with him for 15 years. He described them as his “family” and told her, “I love you because you remind me of them.”

Rodgers first filed a criminal complaint with the Dallas police in April and has since filed a lawsuit in New York accusing Kelly of sexual battery, fraud and false imprisonment. She does not wish for a settlement and wants the case to go before a jury.

Rodgers is the latest woman to accuse Kelly of sexual abuse.

Last August, Jerhonda Pace accused Kelly of trapping her in a “traumatizing” sexual relationship when she was 16. In April of this year, Kelly’s ex-girlfriend, Kitti Jones, claimed he had a “sex dungeon” where he groomed girls as young as 14 to be his “pets,” and accused him of abusing her throughout their relationship. Two other women alleged that Kelly pursued sexual relationships with them when they were 16 and 17 years old earlier this month.

Kelly, who was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008, has vehemently denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. His attorney previously told Page Six, “Mr. Robert Kelly is both alarmed and disturbed at the recent revelations attributed to him. Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies such allegations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name.”
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...ate-r-kellys-public-platform-in-philadelphia/

#MuteRKelly: Councilwoman Seeks To Eliminate R. Kelly’s Public Platform In Philadelphia
January 25, 2019 at 11:52 am

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – R. Kelly’s music could be removed from Philadelphia radio playlists in the near future. A councilgook proposed a resolution to ban R. Kelly from having a public platform in Philadelphia.

Councilwoman Helen Gym released her proposal Thursday to show support and solidarity for the #MuteRKelly campaign.

The movement was created in 2017 to ban R. Kelly’s music from airwaves following the resurgence of new sexual abuse allegations.

“We reject a system that silences Black women and accepts black pain. We believe survivors. R. Kelly is not welcome in Philadelphia,” Gym said in a tweet.

The resolution seeks to protect victims of violence, particularly black women, stating, “Victims of violence and abuse who are people of color, and particularly Black women, rarely receive proportionate news coverage, and are often portrayed as crime victims or crime perpetrators and blamed for their own victimization.”

“I am here to support the work and struggle of Black women and all women who are fighting against patriarchy and rape culture. For too long, R. Kelly and predators like him have relied on all of us to turn our backs on Black women and girls,” said Councilwoman Helen Gym. “The system has failed Black children and women.”

“We all have a responsibility to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation, and to seek accountability when it occurs,” the resolution stated. “We acknowledge the vulnerability of Black girls, and make a commitment to show up for and stand with them.”

Alleged victims have accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse dating back to the mid-1990’s.

The resolution is scheduled for a vote Jan. 31.
 
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-r-kelly-sex-charge-20190222-story.html

R. Kelly charged in Cook County with aggravated criminal sexual abuse

2/22/19
In a bombshell development, R&B superstar R. Kelly was indicted Friday on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, court records show.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx confirmed that Kelly had been charged while announcing she would hold a news conference at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, a county judge issued a warrant for Kelly’s arrest Friday morning, according to the records.

It was not immediately clear how many alleged victims were involved, but three of the indictments referred to a minor between the ages of 13 and 16
, according to the charges.

The charges come after damning allegations in a recent documentary series spurred Foxx to make an unusual public plea last month for any Kelly accusers to come forward, and a recent groundswell of social media backlash called for a boycott of Kelly’s music.

High-profile attorney Michael Avenatti said last week that he had given Foxx’s office a VHS tape showing Kelly engaging in sex years ago with an underage girl.
 
Michael Avenatti, the porn lawyer? What class!
 
https://pagesix.com/2019/02/22/r-ke...6.1144693641.1550878689-1576945406.1538355679

‘Shell-shocked’ R. Kelly to turn himself in following sex abuse charges
By Gabrielle Fonrouge and Natalie Musumeci
February 22, 2019 | 4:08pm

Singer R. Kelly is “shell-shocked” over the sex-abuse charges leveled against him and will turn himself in to cops Friday night, his lawyer said.

Hours earlier, Kelly was ordered to surrender to authorities and appear for a bond hearing in Chicago on Saturday to face charges he sexually abused four victims, including three minors, officials said.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx personally detailed the charges against the embattled Grammy-winning singer.

Each of the 10 counts against Kelly carry a possible prison term of three to seven years. Probation also would be an option, under the sentencing guidelines.

Kelly, 52, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom range in age from 13 to 16, according to court documents.

The charges involve incidents from 1998 to 2010, officials said.

The first victim, identified by the initials H.W., was under the age of 17 and involved in incidents between May 26, 1998, and May 25, 1999, prosecutors allege.

Prosecutors said the second victim, identified as R.L., was also under the age of 17, and involved in an incident that occurred between Sept. 26, 1998, and Sept. 25, 2001.

The third victim, identified by the initials L.C., was involved in an incident that occurred on Feb. 18, 2003, prosecutors charge.

“A grand jury returned an indictment one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse based on the transmission of semen by Robert Kelly upon any part of the body of the victim for the purpose of sexual gratification during the course of the underlying forcible felony of attempt criminal sexual assault,” Foxx said.

Prosecutors allege the fourth victim, identified by the initials J.P., who was also under the age of 17, was involved in incidents that occurred between May 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010.

Aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a Class 2 felony.
 
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/02/23/r-kelly-charged-chicago-case-bond/


R. Kelly Can’t Come Up With Money For $1 Million Bond, Stays Second Night In Jail
:p
February 23, 2019 at 10:16 pm

CHICAGO (CBS) — R. Kelly’s attorney says the singer doesn’t have the $100,000 bail he needs to post, so Kelly will spend a second night in jail where he’s been moved into a private cell.

R. Kelly’s bond was set at $1 million by Judge John F. Lyke Jr. on Saturday. Kelly was charged Friday with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four women, including three minors.

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Lyke set the bond at a hearing on Saturday afternoon at Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. After the hearing, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said prosecutors have DNA evidence in two of the cases.

Judge ordered no contact with any alleged victims or witnesses and R. Kelly must turn in passport. Ordered no contact with anyone 18 years of age or younger @cbschicago

— Megan Hickey (@MeganHickeyCBS2) February 23, 2019

Lyke set the bond at $250,000 for each of the four victims in the case. He was told to have no contact with anyone 18 years old or younger. He also was forced to surrender his passport. Kelly’s next court date is Monday. Lyke called the case against Kelly disturbing.

R. Kelly has to post $100,000. Attorney Greenberg :rolleyes:says R. Kelly “really doesn’t have any money at this point. I don’t think he even owns the rights to ‘I believe I can fly.’” Says bond is reasonable. @cbschicago
 
https://pagesix.com/2019/02/27/r-ke...9.1144693641.1550878689-1576945406.1538355679

R. Kelly insiders may have helped with alleged sexual abuse
By Associated Press
February 27, 2019 | 3:10am

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R. Kelly leaves the Cook County jail after posting $100 thousand bond


CHICAGO — After R. Kelly met a girl celebrating her 16th birthday at a restaurant, it was his manager who handed her Kelly’s business card with the R&B star’s personal phone number on it, telling the teen that Kelly wanted her to give him a call, according to prosecutors.

The 52-year-old singer-songwriter was charged last week with sexually abusing the girl once a month for a year after she retrieved the card from her mom’s purse and phoned Kelly. In all, prosecutors accuse him of abusing four females, three of whom were between 13 and 17.

Kelly is looking at the possibility of decades in prison if convicted, but there’s no official word on whether the manager or anyone else in his inner circle might face charges for complicity in any abuse or for failing to report abuse if they suspected it.

Legal experts say it’s not obvious what laws could be invoked.

All 50 states require that certain professionals, including doctors and teachers, report any suspicions of child abuse, but only around a third mandate that all adults do. Kelly’s home state of Illinois is not among them.

More than 10 Kelly associates, such as agents and security guards, could be exposed to criminal liability in the Chicago case for staying silent about abuse or actively assisting Kelly, said porn lawyer Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for two Kelly accusers.

In a phone interview, he said Kelly depended heavily on others to target underage girls, to transport them and to pay them off to keep quiet over the years he ascended from busking on Chicago subway platforms to become a best-selling music artist.

Kelly “could not have accomplished this for 28 years without the assistance of others who looked the other way because they didn’t want the R. Kelly gravy train to end,” Avenatti said Tuesday.

The question isn’t limited to Kelly insiders. Critics have blasted law enforcement for not pursuing the Grammy winner more aggressively.

“Every system in this city — police, courts, the South and West sides, the churches, everybody — has failed these young black female victims,” argued Jim DeRogatis, who as a Chicago Sun-Times reporter played the central role in revealing the sex-abuse accusations. He told television station WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” on Monday that 48 women have shared with him their stories of abuse by Kelly since 1991.

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, declined to comment on any possible criminal exposure involving people around Kelly. He said he is “constrained by the canons of ethics” from addressing anything other than allegations directed at his client.

Music industry stalwarts seemed to look the other way when whispers began 25 years ago and grew louder.

Fans didn’t back away either.

In 2013, after allegations of abuse were widely known, concert venues sold out for the tour promoting his album “Black Panties.” The album peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s R&B chart and sold 500,000 copies by 2015. His next album, “The Buffet,” went to No. 1 in 2016.

If prosecutors do go after Kelly’s confidantes, Avenatti expects many to turn on him.

“His handlers and enablers are going to look to save their own butts as opposed to R. Kelly,” he said.

In practice, charges against someone other than the abuser are rare.

At Penn State University, three administrators were convicted of child endangerment in the case of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in 2012 of raping and sexually abusing multiple boys.

In sentencing former university President Graham Spanier, Senior Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley in 2017, a judge said it should have been easy to pick up the phone to report what they suspected about Sandusky.

“They ignored the opportunity to put an end to his crimes when they had a chance to do so,” Judge John Boccabella said.

Texas has one of the toughest state reporting requirements, mandating that all adults report suspected child abuse. Violators can be imprisoned for up to a year and fined $4,000.

Of just 117 people charged between 2008 and 2012 under the Texas law, fewer than a quarter were eventually convicted, in part because of the challenges of proving that someone did not do something, according to a 2013 report by the Houston Chronicle.

“It’s hard to prove a negative sometimes,” Jane Waters, then chief of the special victims bureau of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told the newspaper.

A bill dubbed The Speak Up Act , introduced by Sen. Bob Casey, would make it a federal crime in all 50 states if an adult who suspects child abuse does not report it. But in eight years since its introduction, the proposal has not garnered sufficient support to even come up for a vote.

At least some child advocates worry about unintended consequences of laws mandating all adults, in all situations, report suspected abuse. They say child-protection resources nationwide are already stretched thin and a burst of new reports, including an uptick in false ones, could draw staff away from investigations with better chances of leading to charges.
 
https://pagesix.com/2019/03/06/r-ke...93.414235610.1551483222-1576945406.1538355679

R. Kelly blames parents for ‘selling’ daughters to him
By Lia Eustachewich
March 6, 2019 | 8:26am

R. Kelly exploded with rage as he vehemently denied sexually abusing underage girls in a new interview aired Wednesday — and blamed the parents of the alleged victims for “selling” their daughters to him.

The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer flew off the handle in his 80-minute sit-down with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King, prompting the cameras to stop rolling at one point.

“Thirty years of my career! Y’all trying to kill me!” Kelly bellowed as he stood up, pounded his chest and pointed directly at the camera. “This is not about music! I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids and I can’t do it! You just don’t want to believe the truth! You don’t want to believe it!”

Just before his emotional outburst, Kelly broke into tears as he insisted, “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f–king life!”

After Kelly’s publicist intervened and calmed the singer down, the cameras started rolling again as he was getting his makeup touched up.

“I hope this camera keep going. This is not true. It doesn’t even make sense,” Kelly raged. “Why would I hold all these women?”

King gently urged the 52-year-old to not just “rant” at the camera.

“You sound like you’re playing the victim here,” she said.

“I’m just telling the truth,” he replied.

Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester, pleaded not guilty last month to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Three of the four alleged victims were minors at the time. The alleged incidents date back to 1998.

He’s long been accused of holding some of the women hostage in his home as part of a sex cult.

But Kelly insisted he was in a relationship with the women, Jocelyn Savage and Azriel Clary.

“What kind of love is it that keeps these young women away from their families?” asked King.

“What kind of father, what kind of mother would sell their daughter to a man?” he countered.

“So you’re saying the parents handed their daughters, Azriel and Jocelyn, to you?” King asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”

He replied, “Absolutely.”


The R&B star said he agreed to do the CBS interview because he’s “very tired of all of the lies.”

“I’ve been hearing things, and you know, and seeing things on the blogs, and you know, you know, I’m just tired,” Kelly said.

King asked, “What are the lies that you’re hearing that disturb you most?”

“Oh my God. Um — all of them, got little girls trapped in the basement … helicopters over my house trying to rescue someone that doesn’t need rescuing because they’re not in my house,” he replied, adding, “Handcuffing people, starving people. I have a harem, what you call it — a cult. I don’t even really know what a cult is. But I know I don’t have one.”
 
https://abc7chicago.com/r-kelly-to-return-to-jail-for-failing-to-pay-child-support/5171129/

R. Kelly to return to jail for failing to pay child support, speaks out in 1st public comments since new sex abuse charges

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3/6/19

CHICAGO (WLS) -- R. Kelly has been taken into custody and will return to Cook County Jail after failing to pay more than $100,000 in child support he owes.

WATCH: R. Kelly enters Chicago courtroom for child support hearing

Kelly was taken into custody following a child support hearing at the Daley Center. He was led away by deputies and handcuffed Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Cook County Sheriff's Department, Kelly will have to post $161,000 purge, the amount he owes in back child support. It must be paid in full.

He is due back in court on March 13 at 9:30 a.m.
 
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/03/06/r-kelly-new-charges-detroit/

2 Investigator Exclusive: R. Kelly Investigated In Detroit For Claims He Had Sex With A 13-Year-Old, Later Gave Her Herpes
March 6, 2019 at 6:38 pm

CHICAGO (CBS) – A new underage victim claims R. Kelly gave her herpes when she was 17 years old.

CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards first broke the news that R. Kelly, currently charged with sex crimes in Chicago, is now under investigation in Detroit for allegedly having intercourse with a teenage girl in Detroit nearly two decades ago.

Detroit detectives are looking into allegations that Kelly and the girl first “engaged in sexual intercourse at an undisclosed hotel” in December 2001, sources said.

The victim, who was 13-years-old at the time, said she was visiting her mother and made contact with a friend, who is Kelly’s assistant, sources said.

Kelly and the alleged victim first had sex at the Detroit hotel on Dec. 30, 2001, sources told Edwards. The alleged victim said she and Kelly also had sex at a Detroit recording studio a few weeks later. The woman, now 30, visited Kelly at his home in Atlanta for a period of four years, where she says the singer gave her herpes when she was 17-years-old.




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In an interview with CBS’s Gayle King, his first public comments since his arrest last month, Kelly angrily denied charges that he sexually abused four people, including three teenage girls.



At times yelling :bongo:and crying, Kelly told King, “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me. I am fighting for my f—–g life!”
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/03/10/r-kelly-gary-davis-video-tape-sexually-abusing-girls/

Pennsylvania Man Claims He Provided Police With Tape Of R. Kelly Sexually Abusing Young Girls
March 10, 2019 at 5:42 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Pennsylvania man says he gave police a new tape that he claims shows singer R. Kelly sexually abusing young girls. Gary Davis said he discovered it while cleaning out an old videotape collection. :confused:

Davis did not get into specifics about what was on the tape, and his attorney, Gloria Allred, said she couldn’t be certain the man on the tape is Kelly.

Davis said what he saw was disgusting.

“I have a daughter,” Davis said, “and nobody’s daughter should ever be subjected to anything like that.”

Kelly is facing criminal charges for allegedly assaulting four women, three of whom were underage.

(((Steve Greenberg))), an attorney for Kelly, said the man on the tape is not his client.
 
https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/journalist-vindicated-after-18-year-battle-to-expose-r-kelly/

Journalist vindicated after 18-year battle to expose R. Kelly
By Mackenzie Dawson
June 1, 2019 | 3:33pm

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In 2000, music critic Jim DeRogatis received a fax at the Chicago Sun-Times: “Dear Mr. DeRogatis,” it began. “You wrote about R. Kelly a couple of weeks ago…Robert’s problem — and it’s a thing that goes back many years — is young girls.” While DeRogatis, then the music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, initially dismissed the piece of paper, it was the first hint of a story he would report on for the next 18 years, even as other outlets largely ignored the story. Right after he got the fax, DeRogatis received the tape that prosecutors alleged showed Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl, though the case was ultimately dismissed. The #MeToo movement and the recent documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” produced by Dream Hampton, helped reignite the conversation about the singer, who now currently faces sexual abuse charges against four victims. DeRogatis, whose book “Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly” (Abrams) comes out June 4, spoke with The Post about the singer.

How did it feel to report on a story for that long without it getting additional traction in other outlets? It was amazingly frustrating. I have met these girls and I had seen the damage that had been done by this man.

How much do you think race played into the way that young girls and women were ignored? I’ve only ever amplified what so many young black girls and women told me when they trusted me with their stories, and when they said ‘No one matters less in our society than young black girls.’ I’m a 54 year old white man. I can’t speak for those women, but they are saying it themselves loud and clear.

Do you feel utterly vindicated now that people are finally listening? All I feel is this deep and pervasive sense of sadness, combined with a lack of understanding of how this happened in full view of the world for 30 years. Harvey Weinstein operated behind the shadows. R. Kelly was opening the Winter Olympics! I think the conversation [around sexual assault] that is being had is louder than it’s ever been — but even with that, too many people continue to get away with it. Even with [the current charges] I can’t say [Kelly] is finally going to be done.

How about the lip service that your peers gave to the charges, as a passing mention? As someone who has devoted his life to listening to and thinking about popular music, it was upsetting to see so many critics roll over with lines like “despite all the claims, this man is a genius.” I believe that 99% of the time, we can separate the art from the artist. But Kelly has been confessing his bad behavior long before he married Aaliyah when she was 15. And it behooves the critic to look at that.
 
https://pagesix.com/2020/08/27/r-ke...4.1912912820.1594481084-1576945406.1538355679

R. Kelly in solitary confinement following jailhouse beatdown
By Gabrielle Fonrouge
August 27, 2020 | 4:20pm

R. Kelly has been placed in solitary confinement following a jailhouse beatdown from another inmate because it’s the only place he’s safe, the disgraced artist’s lawyer told The Post Thursday.

“That’s the only place they can protect him,” said Steven Greenberg, Kelly’s Chicago-based attorney.

Sometime Wednesday, a disgruntled inmate, furious over lockdowns caused by Kelly, came into his cell and started attacking him, Greenberg said.

“My understanding is, everytime there is a pro-R. Kelly protest outside of the jail, they lock down the entire facility,” the lawyer said during a brief interview.

“When they do this, inmates don’t get their commissary, they don’t get their shower, stuff like that and since they’re fairly sporadic anyway, they get upset. So they’re penalizing everyone in the facility because people are protesting in support of Kelly.”

The attorney characterized the attack as a mere “dust up” and said there were “minor injuries, nothing broken” but that’s only because guards were able to quickly snuff it out.

“I’m still very concerned because sure this time the guards were able to quickly stop something from happening but what happens if someone goes in his cell with a shank or something like that? Or the guards are busy doing something else?” Greenberg said.

“We were fortunate this time but who’s to say next time?”

Kelly is awaiting trial on a series of child sex abuse charges and has repeatedly petitioned the courts to release him amid the coronavirus pandemic but those requests have all been rejected.
 
https://pagesix.com/2021/07/24/r-ke...98.661277314.1625592645-1576945406.1538355679

Feds ask to bring up new sickening accusations against R. Kelly at trial

By Patrick Reilly
July 24, 2021 | 3:31am

Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday detailed a string of new accusations of sexual assault and bribery against R. Kelly going back 30 years, including how the disgraced R&B singer allegedly abused a teenage boy in 2006.

In a lengthy court filing, the prosecutors asked a judge for permission to admit what they said was evidence of the sickening allegations — for which Kelly has not been charged — at his upcoming sex-trafficking trial in Brooklyn.

The uncharged acts are “directly relevant to and inextricably intertwined with the evidence of the charged crimes,” the prosecutors argued in the motion.

The filing alleges that in 2006, Kelly sexually abused a 17-year-old boy, named only as John Doe #1, after meeting him at a McDonalds in Chicago and asking “what he was willing to do to succeed in the music business.”

According to the court docs, the boy introduced Kelly to a close male pal who was 16 or 17. Several years later, Kelly allegedly started a sexual relationship with that person, John Doe #2, and forced several of his girlfriends at the time to have sex with the young man while he filmed.

The documents also describe how a “crisis manager” for Kelly allegedly bribed a Cook County, Illinois, clerk with $2,500 to get inside information on the singer’s legal troubles after the Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” came out in early 2019.

Prosecutors also want to introduce evidence that Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, allegedly sexually abused the singer Aaliyah Haughton and married her in 1994 when she was 15 so that she couldn’t be forced to testify against him, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She died in a plane crash in 2001.

Other allegations contained in the filing include unlawful imprisonment, hush money payments, threats and psychological abuse.

Prosecutors said that a woman named as Jane Doe #5, who is expected to testify, alleged that Kelly directed her to search the internet and find “child pornography involving boys for him.” A search authorized on Kelly’s computer corroborated this claim, according to the court doc.

Prosecutors also want to play for the jury two audio recordings allegedly showing Kelly physically and psychologically abusing women, proving his “regular use of audio and video recordings to maintain control.”

Kelly is accused of leading an entourage of employees who recruited women and girls to have sex with the singer as he toured around the country and the globe during his years as a R&B star.

He was arrested by the NYPD and federal authorities in Chicago in the summer of 2019 and transferred to New York in late June. He faces two sets of federal charges in New York and Chicago.

Kelly briefly appeared in court in Brooklyn earlier this month for a hearing, where he was seen in a mask and untucked shirt before a judge.

Judge Ann Donnelly set Kelly’s trial date for Aug. 18, so he could review materials with his defense team, which he retained in June.
Kelly's next court appearance is scheduled for August 18, 2021 as he faces racketeering charges.

Kelly has remained behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after the judge denied his attorney’s request for bail.

He maintains his innocence.
 
https://nypost.com/2021/08/18/what-you-need-to-know-about-r-kellys-sex-trafficking-trial/

R. Kelly’s sex trafficking trial begins in Brooklyn with Aaliyah pregnancy bombshell
By Ben Feuerherd, Sam Raskin and Bruce Golding
August 18, 2021 11:54am Updated

R&B singer R. Kelly is a “predator” who used his fame — and an army of devoted associates — to sexually exploit “girls, boys and young women” who he made call him “Daddy,” a federal prosecutor told jurors at the start of his racketeering and sex crimes trial on Wednesday.

Kelly, 54, distributed backstage passes so children and women would join him after shows, then got them alone and “dominated and controlled them physically, sexually and psychologically,” Brooklyn Assistant US Attorney Maria Melendez said.

The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer even recorded sex acts with minors as part of the sick scheme, beat some victims, locked one in a room for several days and gave at least two of them herpes while knowingly infected with the sexually transmitted disease, she said.

“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Cruz Melendez told the seven-man, five-woman jury.

“This case is about a predator who used his fame, popularity, and network to target, groom and exploit girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.”

She added: “He used his money, clout and public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight.”

The prosecutor also detailed a series of allegations against Kelly, including that he and members of his entourage bribed an official in Chicago to obtain a fake ID for the late singer Aaliyah, so they could get married when he was 27 and she was just 15.

Aaliyah — who died in a plane crash at 22 — had told Kelly she was pregnant and he hatched the wedding plan in a bid to prevent her from testifying against him, Cruz Melendez said during her opening statement.

The prosecutor said a woman identified only as “Sonya” met Kelly while working as an intern for a Salt Lake City radio station when she was 22.
Court art of R. Kelly.

Kelly allegedly flew her to Chicago under the pretense of giving her an interview but she wound up locked in a room at his recording studio for three days.

At one point, the woman was given some cold Chinese food and a Coke, then she passed out a short time later and awoke without her underwear on while Kelly was “doing up his pants,” Cruz Melendez said.

“She felt a wetness between her legs and she knew she had been sexually abused in some way,” the prosecutor said.

Another accuser, identified only as “Faith,” accused Kelly of approaching her in San Antonio when she was 19 and when he was 50, after which she traveled around the country with him, Cruz Melendez said.

Faith alleges that Kelly once led her into a small room and told her to get undressed and that she noticed a gun nearby, after which Kelly allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him,” the prosecutor said.

Faith has also accused Kelly of giving her herpes after knowing he had the disease, which is a crime in New York and California.

Kelly faces nine counts of racketeering and violations of the Mann Act, a 1910 law that makes it a crime to transport “any woman or girl” across state lines for any “immoral purpose.”

If convicted as charged, Kelly — who has pleaded not guilty — would face 10 years to life in prison.

During the defense opening statement, lawyer Nicole Blank Becker told jurors that Kelly’s accusers would tell them “a mess of lies,” adding, “Don’t assume everybody’s telling the truth.”

Blank Becker also said some of the accusers had relished the “notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar.”

“He didn’t recruit them. They were fans. They came to Mr. Kelly,” she said.

“They knew exactly what they were getting into. It was no secret Mr. Kelly had multiple girlfriends. He was quite transparent.”

The case has been delayed multiple times as the singer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, made changes to his legal team.

His trial, which is expected to last about a month, is being conducted without any spectators or reporters in the courtroom, with federal Judge Ann Donnelly citing concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Grammy-winning singer is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the notorious federal lockup where Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and alleged accomplice of the late financier and pedophile Jeffery Esptein, is also jailed.

Kelly’s detention in New York came after the NYPD and federal authorities arrested him in Chicago in the summer of 2019.
 

R. Kelly’s attorney compares him to Martin Luther King Jr. in closing argument​



By
Ben Feuerherd


September 23, 2021 2:58pm
Updated





R. Kelly listens as federal prosecutor Elizabeth Geddes concludes her closing arguments on Sept. 23, 2021.
R. Kelly listens as federal prosecutor Elizabeth Geddes concludes her closing arguments on Sept. 23, 2021. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg




R. Kelly sexually abused Aaliyah when she only was 13 or 14, accuser testifies






An attorney for disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly compared him to civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his closing argument at the singer’s federal racketeering trial Thursday.
Kelly attorney Deveraux Cannick said the accused sex fiend is trying to hold the government to account by making prosecutors prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — in the same way King fought for rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Cannick quoted from King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, telling jurors the civil rights leader protested in streets across America because the US government at the time was not being fair and true to all citizens.
“Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press,” Cannick quoted King as saying in the historic address.
Cannick continued that King led the civil rights movement in an effort to make the government “be true to what’s on paper.”
“That’s all Robert is trying to do,” he added.
R. Kelly R. Kelly faces 10 years to life in prison if he is convicted of his alleged crimes. . Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune via AP
Cannick attacked the prosecution’s case, saying they encouraged witnesses to lie on the stand, misled jurors and pushed a false narrative.
“He didn’t have to recruit women,” Cannick said. “That’s the narrative they’re perpetuating.”
Kelly is accused of leading an enterprise of his “inner circle” employees that allowed him to recruit and sexually abuse girls for more than two decades.
R. KellyR. Kelly’s attorney Deveraux Cannick compared the disgraced entertainer’s situation to that of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.Scott Olson/Getty Images
Prosecutors allege he sexually abused a number of teen girls, including former R&B singer Aaliyah, whom he illegally wed when she was 15 years old.
Kelly faces 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
 
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