*Minnesota prosecutors have dropped sex abuse charges against R. Kelly.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office noted in a statement the R&B singer has already been sentenced to decades behind bars on two separate federal convictions, ABC 7 NY reports.
Prosecutors in Minnesota allege Kelly paid a 17-year-old girl to dance naked with him in his hotel room in 2001. He would likely be convicted if tried, according to the prosecution, but they said pursuing a case that has been dormant since 2019 seems pointless since Kelly is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“The overwhelming impact of proceeding to trial in this case on the survivor victim, the community and the Hennepin County legal system would be enormous while a conviction would not add any additional time in prison,” the Hennepin County attorney’s office stated in a release.
As ABC 7 NY reports, Attorney Gloria Allred issued a statement on behalf of the alleged victim.
“As a surviving victim of R. Kelly, I feel sad about the fact that Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota decided not to hold him accountable for what he did to me when I was a minor,” the statement said. “If there had been a criminal trial, I would have been willing to testify against R. Kelly. Even though it wouldn’t have brought any extra prison time for him, it would have given me closure.”
In related news, prosecutors in Cook County, Chicago, dropped state sex abuse charges against R. Kelly in January due to his lengthy federal prison sentence. We reported previously that his New York federal sex crimes trial has been appealed.
In 2021, R. Kelly was found guilty on 9 federal counts that included sex crimes, human trafficking, and RICO charges. As TMZ reports, the singer says his conviction should be reversed because the government did not meet its burden of proof in court. Some of the evidence the prosecutors presented during the trial has been criticized by Kelly’s lawyers.
In the legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly’s legal team states that at least 4 of the jurors admitted to prejudging the singer guilty after watching the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary on Lifetime. The attorneys say they should never have been on the jury.
Kelly’s team also argues that the alleged underage girls in the case were 18 years old during sexual relationships. For those that may have been underage, Kelly’s legal team states the singer was misled.
READ MORE: R. Kelly’s Legal Team Appeals Federal Sex Crimes Case in New York
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