Just weeks after the 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer was convicted of sex trafficking and kidnapping in a New York court, a federal judge announces the date for his charges related to child pornography.
- Oct 21, 2021
AceShowbiz - R. Kelly will be back in court next summer (August 1, 2022) to face criminal charges related to child pornography.
Chicago federal judge Harry D. Leinenweber named the date for the disgraced R&B singer's latest trial at a hearing on Wednesday, October 20.
The news comes weeks after Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking and kidnapping in a New York court. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4, 2022.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, disclosed that the singer was briefly under suicide watch following last month's sex trafficking conviction.
The new Chicago trial will focus on charges brought by Illinois federal prosecutors suggesting Kelly obtained child pornography and obstructed justice. He was acquitted of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial in Chicago.
The singer is also facing other sex crime charges in Minnesota.
Last month, Kelly was found guilty of sexually abusing women, boys, and girls and convicted on nine counts, including racketeering, sex trafficking, kidnapping, and violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of females across U.S. state lines for sex.
The jury of seven men and five women spent a total of nine hours deliberating on the evidence against the "I Believe I Can Fly" star and the testimony of accusers and prosecution witnesses before reaching their unanimous verdict at the end of a month-long trial in Brooklyn, New York.
During the proceedings, prosecutors set out to show jurors that Kelly used a network of friends and employees to secretly transport his victims across state lines and control their actions.
Many of the witnesses who took the stand during the trial claimed Kelly had kidnapped them and restricted what and when they could eat, and controlled when they could take bathroom breaks.
Kelly has been behind bars for the past two years.
