R.Kelly is a danger to the community - Judge

Judge Donnelly has denied singer R.Kelly's request to leave jail due to the possibility of him contracting Covid-19, labelling Kelly a 'danger to the community' and a 'flight risk'.

This is the third time R.Kelly's attempts to leave jail on 'health conditions' is being dismissed by the court as he is being held in prison over child sex abuse allegations, the transmission of STDS and kidnapping. 

In his motion for bail, which was filed earlier this month, Kelly complained that he was diabetic and overweight and therefore more susceptible to Coronavirus complications, and complained that conditions in his prison had become filthy, and it was only a matter of time before he caught the virus.

Judge Donnelly, while dismissing Kelly's application, said Kelly’s crimes involve the sexual abuse of minors that stretched for almost 25 years, and allegations like those do not merit bail. The judge said that although Kelly has insisted that if set free, he’d return to Illinois to stand trial like he did in his 2008 child porn trial, the grand jury found probable cause that he bribed witnesses in that case, and she doesn’t want a repeat of that alleged behavior.

Judge Donnelly wrote in her decision “The defendant is charged in Illinois and New York with extraordinarily serious crimes, for which he faces a long prison term if convicted. That prospect makes him a flight risk. The nature of the charges—which include crimes against minor victims, threats against potential witnesses and paying bribes to keep witnesses from cooperating—make him a danger to the community, including that he could attempt to tamper with prospective witnesses.”