JAILED SINGER R Kelly has been moved into the general inmate population despite concern other inmates could try to hurt him because of his celebrity status and because he is accused of sexually assaulting minors, US prosecutors say.
A filing by Chicago federal prosecutors said jail personnel moved the I Wish singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, from a restrictive housing unit on Tuesday.
Kelly’s lawyers said last week he had been in solitary confinement in the Chicago federal jail since July, calling it "cruel and unusual punishment".
The Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago disputed that Kelly was held in solitary, stating that he had been in a cell with one other cellmate, Variety reported.
They also claimed that the singer, who has been detained since early July, had been treated unfairly in prison because of his celebrity status.
But Tuesday's filing says Kelly had cellmates while in the restrictive unit and that he himself asked to be kept from other inmates for fear of attack.
Prosecutors quoted Kelly as saying in a jail phone call he had seen "too many movies" about bad things happening to well-known inmates.
Last month Nicole Blank Becker, one of Kelly’s lawyers, told TMZ that her client preferred solitary as he thought his life would be in danger if he was kept with other prisoners.
He faces sexual misconduct and child sexual abuse charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
This month Kelly is set to appear at three court hearings this month, with another scheduled for early October.
Two female supporters of the disgraced singer are reportedly raising money for his legal fees.
Kelly has previously said that people had been “stealing” his money and as a result he was unable to pay child support, which landed him in jail, and post bail.