Facing The Music R. Kelly's Sordid Sex Scandal Shame

The disgraced singer’s past caches up with him

Standing in court last week in an orange jumpsuit, his ankles in shackles, singer R. Kelly was almost unrecognizable.

Once the toast of the music world with his number-one hit “I Believe I Can Fly”, the Grammy award winner – who is facing a litany of shocking sex charges – didn’t utter a word. The judge had just ruled that instead of being released on bond to prepare for the fight of his life, he’d be remaining behind bars. Possibly forever.

For the 52-year-old, once anointed the “King of R&B”, it was a bitter blow. Four months earlier, he’d railed against his accusers on US TV. “All of them are lying,” he insisted. “I have been assassinated.”

But for those who are pointing the finger at the “Trapped in the Closet” singer, it was a moment that should have come much sooner.

For 23 years, accusations have swirled against the performer whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly.

In 1996, a young woman claimed he’d had a sexual relationship with her when she was just 15, and in 2001, a former intern at his record company charged that he’d treated her as his “personal sex object and cast aside”. Reportedly, the cases were settled with a cheque book.

More accusations followed. In 2002, a woman claimed she’d been forced to have an abortion after he’d impregnated her when she was underage, and another alleged Kelly had been sharing around a sex tape he’d made of her without her knowledge or permission. Both cases were settled out of court.