R. Kelly charges dropped: What it means, explained

Charges against singer R. Kelly have been dropped by an Illinois prosecutor, with the formalities expected to be completed this Tuesday at the Cook County Court.

Speaking to the press, State Attorney Kim Foxx noted that she found the charges credible and that limited time and resources were the primary motivating factors behind the dropping of the 10 counts of aggravated criminal s****l abuse.

In her statement, she added:

"While today's cases are no longer being pursued, we believe that justice has been served in the sentences that have already been handed down to Mr. Kelly, as well as the sentence that will come down next month."

Kim Foxx was the charging officer in Kelly's case back in 2019, having urged the survivors to come forward at the time, with incidents dating back to late 1990s.

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R. Kelly still facing multiple charges

Foxx, speaking of the survivors, stated that she had consulted with them before proceeding with the dropping of the charges:

"I understand how hard it was for these victims to come forward and tell their stories. I applaud their courage and have the utmost respect for everyone who came forward."

She added that she understood that some of the survivors would feel let down by the decision, adding that:

"My office will direct our resources to find justice for other victims of sexual abuse who do not have the power of a documentary to bring their abusers to light."

While Foxx has dropped some of the pending charges, the singer is already serving a 30 year federal sentence for nine counts of racketeering and S*x trafficking that was trialed in a district court in Brooklyn in 2021.

R. Kelly is also facing a second federal sentence, trialed in Chicago in 2022, for six counts of S****l exploitation and enticement of a minor, primarily based around the evidence provided by a 22 minute video anonymously sent to the Chicago Sun Times, that showed R. Kelly having S*x with a minor, as well as the testimony of the minor in question, who is identified only as Jane.

He is also facing charges in Hennepin County, Minnesota, for soliciting a minor as well as prostitution.

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Lifetime Documetary and tracing the history of allegations against R. Kelly

The first allegations against R. Kelly began in the late years of 1990s, with charges of grievous personal injuries and emotional abuse filed against the singer and his company and publishing label by Tiffany Hawkins on Christmas Eve, 1996. These resulted in $250,000 dollars in settlement, approximately 2.5% of the original 10 million claim.

In 2001 and 2002, two consecutive S*x tapes were sent to the Chicago Sun Times, which eventually resulted in a second federal sentence against the singer.

The Sun Times also reported on the Hawkins case, as well as the singer's marriage to his minor niece Aliyah. In May 2008, a jury found the singer not guilty, in what is often considered to be one of the many lapses of justice in the case.

In 2017, allegations emerged against the singer and his associates for forming a S*x cult and coercing women. This was quickly followed by consecutive allegations against the singer, all of which were denied.

In 2019, the Lifetime documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, premiered to threats of legal action by Kelly's lawyer, as well as a gun scare. The documentary eventually led to what would become the first of many successful convictions in the years to come.