R. Kelly Issued Arrest Warrant After Failure to Appear in Court

A warrant has been has been issued for R. Kelly after he no-showed a court appearance in Minnesota for a case related to his alleged sex offenses in other states. The R&B singer is currently in jail in Chicago according to The Hollywood Reporter and was charged in Minnesota back in August, allegedly soliciting a 17-year-old girl back in 2001 to take off her clothes and dance for $200.

The bench warrant issued by the judge as a “formality” according to THR, with prosecutors claiming that federal authorities are “not willing to give us access to him” as his cases in both Chicago and New York continue.

Kelly faces federal and state charges of sexual abuse and other counts, with his attorney Steve Greenberg noting that he was not notified of any summons and isn’t officially registered in Minnesota according to THR.

Kelly was arrested back in early July on federal sex crime charges in Chicago, with expectations that he’d be transferred to New York. The singer was planned to face his charges in New York back on August 2 before returning to Chicago for a “status hearing” on September 4 connected to a separate indictment.

The heightened attention on Kelly followed the broadcast of the documentary Surviving R. Kelly on Lifetime, leading to allegations that he groomed underage girls and forced them deal with years of sexual abuse.

“We’re talking seventh and eighth-grade girls,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull said during Kelly’s Chicago hearing following his arrest. “And it didn’t happen once or twice. He sexually abused them hundreds of times before they turned 18.”

There are currently two separate federal investigations and cases looking into his alleged sexual misconduct across the years. According to reports, the Illinois case alleges that Kelly created “multiple videos” showing him having sex with underage girls. He even reportedly made efforts to recover the tapes he made before prosecutors found them.

Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the thirteen counts of “making and procuring” child pornography. He also faces five counts of alleged sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, forced labor, kidnapping and forcing girls to engage in “illegal sexual acts.”

According to a report by TMZ, Kelly allegedly fears for his life in prison and “feels safer” by himself instead of risking an attack by a fellow inmate due to the nature of his charges.