Weeks after R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the disgraced R&B singer returns to the courtroom for another federal trial on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Chicago.
More than twenty years ago, the infamous tape of the singer sexually abusing and urinating on a 14-year-old girl was leaked. Although Kelly was put on trial for the tape in 2008, he was eventually acquitted. In this new federal trial in Chicago, Kelly can now potentially face consequences for those actions, according to NBC News.
Federal prosecutors allege that in the 2008 criminal trial, Kelly obstructed justice, which is “an act that ‘corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice,’” according to Cornell Law School.
The first step in this trial is jury selection, which begins on Monday. Along with the charges stemming from the infamous 2002 sex tape, several other women claim that Kelly persuaded them to commit sexual acts while they were underage. Two of those victims are expected to testify in court, according to NBC News.
Along with the additional legal troubles Kelly faces, he also seems to be in the middle of some personal troubles, as his alleged fiancée, Joycelyn Savage, claims in her recently released book that she’s pregnant with his child.
In her 24-page tell-all, Love and Joy of Robert, Savage claims that “Robert is extremely excited about the news that I am having a baby and feels sad that Robert will not be able to be here with us.” However, she never explains how the baby was conceived even though Kelly has been behind bars for the past year.
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, shared with TMZ in a statement that Savage, “is certainly not pregnant with R. Kelly’s child,” and adds that “people are just insane.”
In November 2019, Savage claimed that she was a victim of Kelly and shared the disturbing details of her abuse through Patreon, an online subscription service.
Months earlier in a compelling interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning in March 2019, Savage defended Kelly and said she was not a victim of the R&B singer.