Where is R. Kelly Now? Updates on His Sentencing and More

R. Kelly R. Kelly in concert at Bass Concert Hall, Austin, USA – March 3, 2017 — Image source: Getty Images

R Kelly. Musician R. Kelly (center) leaves the Leighton Criminal Court building after pleading not guilty to 11 additional sexual charges, in Chicago R Kelly, Chicago, USA - June 6, 2019 — Image source: Getty Images

R KellyThe long criminal history and allegations date back to the early 1990s. He faced allegations of sexual abuse in the early 2000s until he was finally convicted of child pornography in 2022. Although Kelly promised to appeal his decades-long prison sentence, the former record producer’s appeal was rejected in 2024.

Learn more about the R. Kelly case and where he is now below.

What did R. Kelly do?

Although most of Kelly’s allegations date back to the early 1990s, a leaked recording of his alleged sexual encounter with a minor did not surface until 2002. The recording showed Kelly and an unidentified teenager who was a minor at the time. After being charged with child pornography, he pleaded not guilty. His trial began in 2008 and Kelly was acquitted.

Over the next decade, several women made shocking allegations against the former singer-songwriter. In 2019, Kelly was charged with ten counts of aggravated sexual abuse. He denied all allegations against him and his legal team pleaded not guilty. Still, he was indicted by a federal grand jury this year on charges of child pornography, enticement of minors and obstruction of justice, according to the Associated Press.

Kelly’s federal trial began in New York in 2021. He was convicted of violating the Mann Act — an anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits a person from taking someone across state lines “for any immoral reason,” the outlet said.

R. Kelly’s prison sentence

In 2022, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York. Later that year, a jury in Chicago convicted him of three counts of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a child. However, the jury acquitted him on the following counts: a fourth count of pornography, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice related to his 2008 trial, three counts of conspiracy to receive child pornography and two additional counts of enticement.

In 2023, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced Kelly to 20 years in prison for child pornography and solicitation of minor charges. He was reportedly ordered to serve prison sentences for all but one, concurrent with his separate 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York. In 2024, a Chicago appeals court upheld his 20-year prison sentence for child molestation.

Is R. Kelly in prison?

According to the AP, Kelly has been with FCI Butner, North Carolina since April 2023. He was initially in the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago.