Singer R Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges by a federal jury in New York and has been sentenced to 30 years in jail as of June 28. Now, in court documents obtained by AllHipHop, it turns out the R&B singer is engaged to Joycelyn Savage, the 26-year-old who he allegedly brainwashed, as per her parents. Savage, in a letter to the judge, pled for leniency in Kelly’s hearing, but the 55-year-old’s troubles are far from over. In August, Kelly faces another trial in Chicago for child pornography and obstruction of justice.

He had faced allegations of sexual abuse for more than two decades. 

1994

Kelly, then aged 27, married 15-year-old singer Aaliyah at a secret ceremony in Chicago in August 1994, but the marriage was annulled in February 1995 after Vibe magazine reported that she had falsely listed her age as 18 on the wedding certificate. Kelly was the lead songwriter and producer on Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.”

Also Read: R Kelly kept a gun while sexually abusing me: Accuser during trial

1996

Tiffany Hawkins sued Kelly for the “personal injuries and emotional distress” during their three-year relationship.

According to court documents, Hawkins began having sex with Kelly in 1991, when she was 15 and he was 24. According to the Chicago Sun Times, Hawkins sought $10 million in damages, but accepted a fraction of that amount ($250,000) when the case was settled in 1998.

2001

Tracy Sampson, a former intern at Epic Records, sued Kelly for initiating an “indecent sexual relationship” with her when she was 17 years old. She claimed she was “treated as his personal sex object and cast aside”. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Also read: Who was Aaliyah, relationship with R Kelly explained

2002

Kelly was sued by two other women and settled both cases out of court for an undisclosed sum in return for a non-disclosure agreement. Patrice Jones claimed Kelly had impregnated her when she was underage, and forced her to have an abortion, while Montina Woods alleged he videotaped them having sex without her knowledge. That year, he was also arrested and charged with 21 counts of making child pornography and other sexual acts on a minor. Kelly was released on USD 750,000 bail. Kelly released the Trapped In The Closet album and was nominated for an Image Award by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the six years the case took to go to trial. He was found not guilty on all counts as the jury concluded they could not prove that the girl on the tape was a minor .

2002 – 2004:

Kelly was charged with a further 12 counts of making child pornography in Florida, after police seized a camera during his arrest from his holiday home, which allegedly contained images of the star having sex with an underage girl.

The charges were dropped when a judge agreed with Kelly’s defence team that police lacked sufficient evidence to justify a search.

Also read: R Kelly net worth: How singer convicted of child sex abuse lost his wealth

2017-2018

A Buzzfeed report, quoting three former employees of Kelly, accused Kelly of trapping six women in a sex “cult” and confiscating their mobile phones to bar them from contacting friends and family members. Parents said their daughters had all but vanished.

One of the victims, Jerhonda Pace, broke a non-disclosure agreement to speak about having sex with Kelly while she was underage. Another woman, Kitti Jones, claimed Kelly starved her and coerced her into sexual encounters with other women and physically abused her. Kelly was sued by a former partner who said he “intentionally” infected her with a sexually transmitted disease.

2019

A documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ led to Kelly’s planned concerts in the US and New Zealand were cancelled. Kelly was charged in Chicago with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti said he had obtained a video showing Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Prosecutors later filed an additional 11 charges of sexual assault and abuse against a minor aged between 13 and 16. Kelly was also hit with two separate federal indictments in Illinois and Brooklyn. Kelly was denied bail on the grounds that he poses a flight risk by a New York. Prosecutors in Minnesota also filed prostitution charges against Kelly, leading to criminal cases against him in three US states.

Kelly’s application for bail was denied by a federal judge in Brooklyn, citing “the strong possibility of witness tampering” in the singer’s upcoming trial.

2020

Kelly’s Chicago trial was delayed by six months, after prosecutors seize more than 100 electronic devices, including smartphones, iPads and hard drives from a storage facility holding the star’s tour equipment.

Prosecutors also updated the charges against him, to “add yet another victim” to the list of allegations.

Three of Kelly’s associates were charged with attempting to intimidate, harass or pay off alleged victims in the racketeering case against the singer. Kelly was attacked in his sleep by a fellow inmate in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre.

2021

Kelly’s legal team was replaced two months before his trial was due to begin. Kelly’s relationship with Aliyah was confirmed in the last pre-trial hearing before Kelly’s trial.