Where R. Kelly’s Legal Cases Stand In 2020

After both captivating and horrifying audiences last January, Surviving R. Kelly is back for another round. Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning which is airing on Lifetime over three nights as of January 2 and gives updates on those who who have accused singer Robert Kelly of sexual abuse, along with interviews with experts and information on Kelly’s current status. And a lot has changed since Part I aired one year ago: As 2020 begins, R. Kelly has multiple legal cases filed against him and faces three separate trials. 

The month after Surviving R. Kelly aired, Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois. Since then, he has gone on to face many more charges, including a solicitation charge in Minnesota and federal charges that will see him at trial in both New York City and Chicago. The charges against Kelly include conspiracy to obstruct justice, production of child pornography, and violation of the Mann Act, according to the New York Times. In relation to federal charges, Kelly was arrested in Chicago in July 2019.

Previously, Kelly was found not guilty in 2008 when he went on trial for child pornography charges related to a video that allegedly showed him performing sexual acts with a minor. He has now been accused of bribing the girl in the video and her family when it came to the court case, as the New York Times reports.

Kelly has denied all of the charges against him. 

The outcome of the charges against Kelly has not yet been determined, but answers are coming in 2020.

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Kelly’s Chicago trial has been set for April, his New York trial for May, and his Cook County trial for September. A trial for the Minnesota case has not been set. In September, NBC News reported that Kelly did not attend his initial court appearance and that prosecutor Judith Cole said that federal authorities in Illinois were “not willing to give us access to him” until that case is resolved. 

Kelly has been in jail since July, and has not been let out on bail, as judges in Chicago and New York would have to agree to his release. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York ruled that there is substantial risk Kelly may flee the country if released.

According to the Chicago Tribune, if Kelly is found guilty in all three of the cases that are currently pending trial, he could face life in prison.

Surviving R. Kelly had an undeniably huge impact when it came to the legal action taken against Kelly, and now with Part II, the women who accuse him continue to share their stories, as well as the impact the original special had on their lives. Because they voiced their allegations, these women have faced harassment, death threats, and people questioning their parents' roles in allowing them to end up in the alleged situations with Kelly.

Part II seeks to share those stories, while Kelly’s fate still remains undetermined.