Judge Accuses R. Kelly Of Using Prison Staff’s Phone To Target Witnesses

(AllHipHop News) R. Kelly’s request to disclose the identities of two women accusing him of sexual abuse was denied by a judge on Wednesday (January 29th).

The singer was arrested last year on a 13-count federal indictment for sexual abuse in Chicago, while he is also facing a racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York.

Earlier this month, R. Kelly’s lawyers filed a demand to unmask two women making allegations against the singer – who are each listed as ‘Jane Doe’ in the court papers.

Jane Doe No. 2 claims that she and Kelly had sex in 1999, when she was 16 years old, while Jane Doe No. 3 has alleged Kelly kept her locked in a bedroom in a Chicago recording studio for three days without food, and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.

However, in her ruling, Brooklyn Federal Judge Ann Donnelly explained she had rejected the request after prosecutors had “substantiated” that the singer can interfere with his case from prison.

The prosecution team referred to “instances in which the defendant has circumvented prison protocols to communicate with third parties, including by abusing the legal mail system and using a prison staff member’s telephone” in their argument, Donnelly wrote.

But Kelly’s defense attorney Steve Greenberg argued the singer “simply has no means or method by which to engage in any obstructive conduct.”

He also said that he and his team are unable to “adequately prepare for trial without knowing who each of the supposed ‘victims’ are.”

The prosecution team stated in court papers that they will reveal the identities of the accusers two weeks before the trial begins.

R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all allegations.