Chicago prosecutor to drop R Kelly abuse charges

Disgraced singer is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and will be sentenced again in late February

R Kelly, 56, already stands to spend the rest of his life behind bars. AP

A Chicago prosecutor has said that she would drop sex abuse charges against singer R Kelly following federal convictions in two courts that should guarantee the disgraced R&B star will be locked up for decades.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced the decision a day before a hearing related to state charges accusing the singer of sexually abusing four women, three of whom were minors. She said she would ask a judge to dismiss the indictments on Tuesday.

Ms Foxx, who in 2019 had pleaded with women and girls to come forward so she could pursue charges against Kelly, acknowledged that the decision “may be disappointing” to his accusers.

“Mr Kelly is potentially looking at the possibility of never walking out of prison again for the crimes that he's committed,” the prosecutor said, referring to his federal convictions.

“While today's cases are no longer being pursued, we believe justice has been served.”

Jovante Cunningham, one of Kelly's accusers, pauses after speaking outside the federal court. AP

A supporter of R Kelly cries outside the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday after the R&B star was sentenced to 30 years in a federal sex case. AP

Lawyer Gloria Allred speaks alongside Ms Cunningham outside the federal court. AP

Kelly's lawyer Jennifer Bonjean speaks after her client was sentenced to 30 years in jail. AP

Ms Allred walks out of federal court alongside another Kelly victim, Lizzette Martinez. AP

Crowds gather for Kelly's sentencing at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in New York. Reuters

Ms Cunningham embraces a supporter. EPA

Ms Cunningham speaks after Kelly's sentencing. EPA

Ms Allred walks with Ms Martinez after the sentencing. EPA

Ms Martinez and Ms Cunningham outside the courthouse on Wednesday. EPA

Since Kelly was indicted in Cook County in 2019, federal juries in Chicago and New York have convicted him of a series of crimes, including child pornography, enticement, racketeering and sex trafficking related to allegations that he victimised women and girls.

Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence in the New York case and awaits sentencing on February 23 in Chicago federal court. He is appealing against those convictions.

Based on the New York sentence alone, the 56-year-old will not be eligible for release until he is about 80.

Kelly's lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said she was “pleased” with the prosecution's decision to drop charges.

“He only has one life to give. So I don't know how many sentences upon sentences would satisfy people,” Ms Bonjean said.

Lanita Carter, who said she was sexually assaulted by Kelly in February 2003, said she was “extremely disappointed” with the news.

“I have spent nearly 20 years hoping that my abuser would be brought to justice for what he did to me. With today’s announcement, all hope of justice for my case is gone,” Ms Carter said. She added that she had trusted Ms Foxx and her office with her story and had spent four years steeling herself to face Kelly to no avail.

“Justice has been denied for me,” she said.

Another sexual-misconduct case is pending in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where the Grammy Award winner faces solicitation charges. That case, too, has been on hold while the federal cases played out. Minnesota prosecutors have not said whether they still intend to take Kelly to trial.

Widespread outrage over Kelly's sexual misconduct did not emerge until the #MeToo reckoning and the release of the Lifetime docuseries Surviving R Kelly in early 2019.

Ms Foxx announced the Cook County charges months before the federal cases in New York and Chicago. Ms Foxx's office alleged Kelly repeatedly sought out girls for sex, including one he encountered at her 16th birthday party and another who met him while he was on trial in 2008.

Federal prosecutors in New York told jurors at his 2021 trial that Kelly used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal enterprise.

Last year, prosecutors at Kelly's federal trial in Chicago portrayed him as a master manipulator who used his fame and wealth to reel in star-struck fans, some of them minors, to sexually abuse then discard them. Four accusers gave evidence.

While prosecutors in that case won convictions on six of the 13 counts against him in that case, the government lost the marquee count — that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his 2008 child pornography trial.