R. Kelly’s sex abuse allegations were dropped by Minnesota prosecutors. In 2001, he paid a 17-year-old girl $200 to dance naked in his hotel room. On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office dropped the charges, citing the passage of time and the fact that Kelly faces possible life in prison as a result of his later federal convictions.
Prosecutors were confident in a Kelly conviction, but they dropped the case to protect the victim and the community from the trauma of a trial. Kelly’s alleged victim, Jane Doe, wanted to testify in court. Her attorney Gloria Allred says she is still troubled by the assault 20 years later and is disappointed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office did not file charges against Kelly.
Kelly was convicted by federal juries in Chicago and New York on charges of child pornography, inducement, racketeering, and sex trafficking. In February he got 30 in New York and 20 in Chicago. In 2021, the Minnesota woman filed a lawsuit against Kelly, but he was already incarcerated at the time.
Kelly, who started out in a poor neighborhood of Chicago, eventually became one of the most famous R&B singers in the world thanks to hits like “I Believe I Can Fly” and songs with explicit sexual content like “Bump n’ Grind.” Despite allegations of sexual misconduct made against him in the 1990s, he nevertheless managed to sell millions of albums.
According to County Attorney Mike Freeman, Kelly allegedly met the girl before his Minneapolis event and gave her his signature and phone number after she asked for them. The accusations were announced in 2019. Kelly invited the woman to his hotel room and offered her $200 to undress for him and dance naked. After Kelly took off her clothes, rumors say the two danced naked. According to the legal complaint, while Kelly was lying on his bed, the minor victim crawled on top of him “body to body.” He gave himself a petting and then doted on her.
Chicago Cook County prosecutors dropped state sex abuse charges against him in January due to his lengthy federal prison sentences. Kelly is now incarcerated at a federal facility in the state of North Carolina.
