R. Kelly released from jail after child support payment made
R&B singer released Saturday from Chicago jail after someone paid debt owed
R&B singer R. Kelly has walked out of a Chicago jail after a $161,000 child support payment was made on his behalf. Kelly was freed Saturday, three days after a judge ordered him jailed until he paid the total amount of back child support that he owed.
A sheriff's official says somebody who did not want to be publicly identified handed a cheque to the Cook County clerk's office for the full $161,633 US in back child support R. Kelly needed to be released. Chief Policy Officer Cara Smith says the person wanted to remain anonymous. The section of the bond slip where a person putting up money writes their name and relationship to the inmate has been left blank.
Kelly was ordered taken into custody on Wednesday by a judge after he said that he did not have the entire $161,000 he owed in child support.
That trip to jail was Kelly's second in a matter of weeks. Last month, after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse pertaining to four women, including three who were minors when the alleged abuse occurred, he was taken to the same jail.
Kelly, whose lawyer said at the time that the singer's finances were in disarray, then spent a weekend in jail before a 47-year-old suburban Chicago business owner posted his $100,000 bail.
His lawyer and publicist told a similar story this week before and after the hearing in which the judge ordered Kelly into custody, with the publicist telling reporters that Kelly was prepared to pay $50,000 to $60,000 on Wednesday but was not able to pay the entire amount.
Kelly has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He has also very publicly proclaimed his innocence, telling Gayle King in an interview that aired this past week on CBS This Morning that all his accusers were lying about him. He also talked about his finances, saying that people had stolen money from his bank accounts, though he offered no details.