R. Kelly stays on suicide watch ‘for his personal security,’ feds say – Nationwide

Federal authorities are pushing again on R. Kelly’s claims that he was positioned on suicide watch as a type of punishment final week after a choose sentenced him to 30 years behind bars for utilizing his fame to sexually abuse younger ladies.

The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Brooklyn filed courtroom papers late Saturday saying the disgraced R&B celebrity stays on suicide watch “for his personal security” following a psychological evaluation.

Kelly’s “present life circumstances undoubtedly deliver emotional misery,” Assistant U.S. Legal professional Melanie Speight wrote in a courtroom submitting.

“He’s a convicted intercourse offender who has been sentenced to spend the following three a long time in jail,” she added. “Within the rapid future, he faces one other federal legal trial in Chicago for prices associated to baby pornography.”

Kelly’s legal professional filed a lawsuit Friday alleging jail officers positioned him on suicide watch at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Middle “solely for punitive functions and due to his standing as a high-profile inmate,” including that Kelly has had no ideas of harming himself.

“Nothing occurred throughout sentencing that got here as a shock to Mr. Kelly,” legal professional Jennifer Bonjean wrote within the lawsuit. “Whereas the circumstances of suicide watch could also be acceptable for people who’re actually prone to hurting themselves, they’re merciless and unconstitutional below the Eighth Modification for people who aren’t suicidal.”

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R. Kelly refuses to testify as his intercourse trafficking trial winds down

Kelly, 55, didn’t give an announcement and confirmed no response upon listening to his sentence, which additionally included a $100,000 high quality.

The Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling songwriter was discovered responsible final yr of racketeering and intercourse trafficking. He has denied wrongdoing, and he plans to attraction his conviction.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has been below heightened scrutiny since financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself behind bars in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on prices he sexually abused ladies as younger as 14 and younger ladies in New York and Florida within the early 2000s.