R. Kelly sex abuses charges dropped at Chicago prosecutor's request
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A judge has formally dismissed sex abuse charges against disgraced R&B star R. Kelly at the request of a Chicago prosecutor, who said Monday that "justice has been served" since Kelly's convictions in federal court cases in 2021 and 2022 have all but ensured he'll be behind bars for decades to come.
The dismissal came at a minutes-long hearing Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, a day after Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced that her office would no longer be pursuing indictments accusing Kelly of sexually abusing four people, three of whom were underage.
"I understand how hard it was for these victims to come forward and tell their stories," Foxx said in a statement. "I applaud their courage and have the utmost respect for everyone who came forward. While this may not be the result they were expecting, due to the sentences that Mr. Kelly is facing, we do feel that justice has been served."
She added, "My office will direct our resources to find justice for other victims of sexual abuse who do not have the power of a documentary to bring their abusers to light."
E. Jason Wambsgans-Pool/Getty Images R. Kelly in court in 2019
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York in September 2021. He is also set to be sentenced next month in Chicago federal court after being found guilty on child pornography and child enticement charges this past September. Kelly, 56, faces 10 to 90 years in prison in the latter case.
Allegations of sexual misconduct have long shadowed Kelly, but it wasn't until the rise of the #MeToo movement and the release of the Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly that public pressure really began to mount for authorities to take action. The Cook County indictment was announced in 2019, before the federal cases in New York and Chicago.
An attorney for Kelly did not respond to EW's request for comment Monday.
[This article has been updated to reflect the outcome of Tuesday's court hearing.]
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