A Chicago prosecutor said Monday that she is dropping sex-abuse charges against singer R. Kelly. The decision comes after federal convictions in two courts that ensure confirmed the R&B star will be in jail for decades.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the decision one day before a court hearing about the singer. The hearing is related to state charges accusing R.Kelly of sexually abusing four people, three of whom were minors. Foxx said she would ask a judge to dismiss the charges at the hearing on Tuesday.
Foxx has acknowledged that the decision could impact the women who stepped forward to accuse Kelly of crimes, negatively. However, she stands firm in her choice. “Mr. Kelly is looking at the possibility of never walking out of prison again,” she says. “We believe justice has been served.”
Kelly was indicted in 2019 on multiple crimes and accused of sexually abusing women. Since then, federal juries in Chicago and New York have convicted him of several crimes, including child pornography, enticement, racketeering, and sex trafficking. Currently, Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence in the New York case. He is awaiting sentencing on Feb. 23 in Chicago federal court.
Another case is pending in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Kelly would be facing solicitation charges. This is another case that has been on hold while the federal cases continue. Prosecutors in Minnesota haven’t confirmed if they still intend to take the Grammy Award-winning singer to trial.
Federal prosecutors in New York told jurors at his 2021 trial that Kelly used his entourage to meet girls and keep them obedient. Prosecutors described it as an operation that amounted to a criminal enterprise. Last year, prosecutors at the singer’s federal trial in Chicago portrayed him as a master manipulator. They said he used his fame and wealth to seduce fans and then sexually abuse them. Four accusers testified.
Prosecutors won convictions on six of the 13 counts against him in that case.