R. Kelly on Suicide Watch After Being Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sex Crimes

Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly has been behind bars since his initial arrest in July 2019 and was sentenced to 30 years earlier this week, after he was convicted on all nine counts in a high-profile sex trafficking case. Prosecutors said he had "preyed upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification” for decades.
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Convicted sexual predator R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch at the New York detention facility where he is being held after he was sentenced to 30 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, his attorney said.
Lawyer Jennifer Bonjean claimed the 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer was not suicidal, but was placed on the watch as punishment by guards in the prison.
“Mr. Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. MDC [the Metropolitan Detention Center]has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not (this was done recently with Ghislaine Maxwell),” Bonjean said in a statement, referring to Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator who was given a 20-year prison sentence earlier this week.
According to Bonjean, “MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag."
"My partner and I spoke with Mr. Kelly following his sentencing, he expressed that he was mentally fine and ONLY expressed concern that even though he was NOT suicidal, MDC would place him on suicide watch,” the laywer added.
FILE - R. Kelly appears during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Sept. 17, 2019.
R. Kelly's legal team has filed a lawsuit and moved for a temporary restraining order to remove him from confinement. The complaint names the Metropolitan Detention Center of Brooklyn and its leading officials as well as the US government as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, the disgraced R&B singer's lawyers called the Brooklyn detention cnetre following his sentencing to learn of his status, and prison staff repeatedly hung up on them, "laughed and were highly unprofessional." Kelly is now demanding unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Bonjean complained that inmates are monitored 24/7 in a “stripped down” room without any comfort items such as books or magazines when on suicide watch.

“They are entirely isolated. They are stripped of their clothing and underwear and forced to wear a smock made of material akin to the blankets moving companies use when they wrap up furniture. They are denied utensils for eating. They cannot shower or shave. These conditions may be appropriate for someone who is actually suicidal, they serve no purpose for someone who is not. The only explanation for subjecting someone to these harsh conditions who is not suicidal is punitive,” she said.

A spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment, but emphasized that the agency is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of all inmates in our population, our staff, and the public.”
R. Kelly Slapped With 30-Year Prison Sentence Over Sex Trafficking, Racketeering Charges
R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors argued Kelly had used his stardom and a "network of people at his disposal to target girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification."

"You were a person who had great advantages - worldwide fame and celebrity and untold money. You took advantage of hopes and dreams, holding teenangers in your house trapped. You were at the top of your organization, and you raped and beat them, separated them from their families and forced them to do unspeakable things," said US District Judge Ann Donnelly, as she minced no words while handing down the sentence.

The singer is set to be transferred to Illinois in the coming weeks, where he is due to stand trial on child pornography, sexual abuse and other charges in Chicago in August.
The weeks-long federal trial in Brooklyn included testimony from witnesses who said they were sexually and physically abused by R. Kelly. Rumors of Kelly's abuse of minors and women have been doing the rounds since the 90s, around the same time he married the late R&B artist Aaliyah, when she was just 15 years old and he was an adult.
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