N362 Million Bail? R. Kelly Not As Rich As Assumed

A US judge set $1 million (N362 million) bail for R&B superstar R. Kelly on Saturday after prosecutors laid out graphic details of charges that he sexually abused four victims, three of them minors.

However, he has remained in detention over sexual abuse charges Sunday, his lawyer said, having still not posted bail.

A Chicago judge set bail at $1 million at a hearing Saturday — of which 10 percent needs to be paid, in this case $100,000.

But local media reported that Kelly had failed to do so, and remained in detention.

“Correct,” Steve Greenberg, the musician’s lawyer, responded to an AFP question over whether his client was still jailed. R. Kelly has already spent two nights in detention.

R. Kelly mugshot

Greenberg explained Saturday that his client was not as rich as his fame would suggest.

“This is someone who should be wealthy at this stage of his career, and through mismanagement, through hangers-on and bad contracts and bad deals and bad leases like he had in his studio, he really doesn’t have any money at this point,” Greenberg said.

R. Kelly charged him with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four females, the youngest 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes, which spanned between 1998 and 2010.

The charges carry three to seven years of prison per count.

A grave-faced Kelly appeared in a packed courtroom in a black hooded sweatshirt with his hands handcuffed behind his back.

Two women who had previously publicly accused him of abuse came to court to observe the proceedings.

In setting bail, Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. ordered Kelly to have no contact with anyone under 18 years old, and to have no contact with any of the alleged victims or witnesses.

The singer also was required to relinquish his passport.

“He’s devastated,” Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg said. “Here is someone who at one point was a huge star. Now he is sitting behind bars.”

**AFP