CHICAGO — R. Kelly, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, remained jailed in Chicago on Sunday in lieu of a $100…
CHICAGO — R. Kelly, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, remained jailed in Chicago on Sunday in lieu of a $100,000 bond payment that would allow him to go free pending his sex abuse trial.
The 52-year-old R&B star is behind bars in the 7,000-inmate Cook County Jail, according the county sheriff’s online inmate locator. Kelly was charged Friday with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were minors.
In bond court Saturday, a judge set bail at $1 million, requiring Kelly to pay 10 percent to go free.
There are multiple technical issues that could be thwarting Kelly’s efforts to pay, said Joseph Lopez, a criminal defense attorney in Chicago not connected to the Kelly case.
Bond can be paid by credit card, cash or check. Court officials must be able to talk to bank officials directly to confirm that an amount written on a check is covered, and that’s not possible when banks are closed on Sunday, Lopez said.
Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, did not respond to a message seeking comment on Sunday.
Greenberg said at the bond hearing that his Grammy Award-winning client wasn’t wealthy, despite decades of success creating hit songs for himself and others.
Greenberg blamed mismanagement, bad contracts, and other issues for Kelly’s financial woes.
“This is someone who should be wealthy at this stage of his career.… He really doesn’t have any more money,” he said, arguing for a bail amount within his client’s means. Greenberg said later he was happy with the amount set by the judge, saying he hoped Kelly could be out by Saturday evening.
Disturbing details of the allegations against Kelly emerged Saturday when the prosecution released four detailed documents — one for each accuser — outlining the basis for the charges. The allegations date back as far as 1998 and span more than a decade.
A 16-year-old girl who attended Kelly’s child pornography trial in 2008 got his autograph after a court session. He later invited her to his home in the Chicago suburb of Olympia Fields, where they had sex multiple times, according to the documents, which said he also slapped, choked, and spit on her.
