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One Of R. Kelly Victim’s Will Be Paid $4 Million; Here’s How She’ll Collect

Heather Williams won a civil sexual assault case against the singer in 2019, but a judge says she’ll have access to more than cash

Disgraced singer R. Kelly is expecting to spend the next 30 years behind bars, but he is still ordered to pay one of his many victims. A judge has ruled Heather Willliams, who was awarded $4 million in her 2019 civil sexual assault case against Kelly, access to his Sony Music royalty account.

According to Bloomberg, Williams is the first victim to get access to his music royalties due to a  March 23 Illinois Supreme Court ruling. Williams will also be compensated before Midwest Commercial Funding, a property management company that successfully sued Kelly for $3.5 million in unpaid rent at a Chicago studio. In 2020, Kelly’s account with Sony was valued at $1.5 million.

R. Kelly Sentenced To Concurrent Term of 20 Years

Williams said in her suit that Kelly had repeated sexual contact with her that began in 1998, when she was only 16. According to the Chicago Tribune, records showed the singer was served a court summons while he was in Cook County Jail for failing to pay back child support, but lost the legal battle after failing to appear in court. In a brief phone call with the Chicago Sun-Times in April 2019, Kelly’s publicist stated, “We don’t care about the lawsuit. The lawsuit means nothing to us.”

In June 2022, a federal court in New York sentenced Kelly, now 56, to a 30-year prison sentence after a Brooklyn jury found him guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking of underage girls and women. Last month in a Chicago, Illinois court, Kelly was given a 20-year jail term for using child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. He will serve all but one of those terms concurrently. Kelly is expected to spend no more than 31 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole around the age of 80, giving him a slim chance of leaving prison alive.

Kelly is also facing sexual misconduct charges in Minnesota. It’s unknown if prosecutors will take Kelly to trial.

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