A US judge has said that embattled star, R. Kelly, is a danger to community.
As a result, the judge, Ann Donnelly, has refused to grant him bail.
Kelly, standing trial for alleged protracted sex abuse, has been in detention since last year and is seeking bail on fears of coronavirus, saying he is diabetic and overweight.
The judge noted that Kelly’s crimes involved 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 behaviour.
”The defendant is charged in Illinois and New York with extraordinarily serious crimes, for which he faces a long prison term if convicted,” Judge Donnelly wrote in her decision
“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.”
