Federal authorities are rejecting claims by R. Kelly that he was placed on suicide watch as a form of punishment last week after a judge sentenced him to 30 years behind bars for using his fame to sexually abuse young girls.
The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn filed court papers Saturday night saying the disgraced R&B superstar remains on suicide watch “for his own safety” following a psychological evaluation.
The “current circumstances of Kelly’s life undoubtedly bring emotional distress,” Assistant US Attorney Melanie Speight wrote in a court filing.
“He is a convicted sex offender who has been sentenced to spend the next three decades
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R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison in sex trafficking case
He is in prison,” he added. “In the immediate future, she faces another federal criminal trial in Chicago on charges related to child pornography.”
Kelly’s attorney filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that prison officials placed him on suicide watch at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center “solely for punitive purposes and because of his status as a high-profile inmate,” adding that Kelly he has had no thoughts of harming himself.
“Nothing occurred during sentencing that was a surprise to Mr. Kelly,” attorney Jennifer Bonjean wrote in the lawsuit. “While suicide watch conditions may be appropriate for people who are truly at risk of harming themselves, they are cruel and unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for people who are not suicidal.”
Kelly, 55, did not testify and showed no reaction to hearing his sentence, which also included a $100,000 fine.
The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songwriter was convicted last year of racketeering and sex trafficking. He has denied any wrongdoing and plans to appeal his conviction.
The US Bureau of Prisons has been under intense scrutiny since financier Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide behind bars in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
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