JAILHOUSE KNOCK
R Kelly battered in jail by inmate furious about visits being cancelled because of his crazed fans protesting outside
R KELLY was beaten up by an inmate who was furious visits were cancelled because the singer's protesting fans outside keep forcing the jail to go into lockdown, reports say.
The 53-year-old R&B singer - awaiting trial on a string of sex charges - was said to be sitting on his bed in his cell when a fellow prisoner from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago began punching him.
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lawyer Steven Greenberg told the his client has now been placed in solitary confinement because "that's the only place they can protect him".
The alleged attacker was apparently angry about the prison's governor stopping visits at the center, on more than one occasion, because of the number of Kelly's die-hard fans protesting outside the facility.
Mr Greenberg said: "My understanding is, every time there is a pro-R Kelly protest outside of the jail, they lock down the entire facility.
"When they do this, inmates don't get their commissary, they don't get their shower, stuff like that and since they're fairly sporadic anyway, they get upset.
"So they're penalising everyone in the facility because people are protesting in support of Kelly."
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The fight was reportedly brief and it was unclear if another inmate or guards broke it up.
The Grammy Award winning singer was later examined by a doctor who determined that the singer was OK because he did not have any broken bones or serious injuries.
of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York, from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying him with girls.
He has denied ever abusing anyone.
Back in April, Kelly’s sexual abuse trial in New York was postponed to September 27.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly ruled that the previously scheduled July 7 date was not realistic in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The judge also said at a hearing, which was conducted by telephone, that potential jurors would be summoned to fill out written questionnaires on September 14.
Kelly filed a motion asking to be released on bail, citing multiple confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Chicago jail where he is being held.
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Donnelly did not rule on the motion at the hearing, and noted that a judge overseeing a separate federal case against Kelly in Chicago would also have to sign off on any release.
Federal prosecutors in the Chicago case charged Kelly last July with engaging in sex acts with five minors, recording some of his alleged abuse on video, and using threats to keep victims quiet.
Kelly was also charged last February by Illinois state prosecutors with aggravated sexual abuse, and last August by Minnesota state prosecutors with soliciting sex from a minor.
The R&B singer repeatedly denied any wrongdoings.
In 2008, Kelly was acquitted at trial on state child pornography charges in Illinois.
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