CHICAGO _ Singer R. Kelly walked out of Cook County Jail Saturday for the second time in two weeks _ this time after paying more than $160,000 in overdue child support.
Kelly had been taken into custody three days earlier on the orders of a family court judge who last month had given Kelly until Wednesday to pay up or be locked up.
He spent three nights in custody before leaving the jail shortly before noon Saturday.
Cara Smith, chief policy officer at the sheriff's office, said late Saturday morning that a check for the full amount of Kelly's back child support had been given to the Circuit Court clerk's office.
Less than two weeks earlier, Kelly, 52, spent three days in the jail after he was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Cook County prosecutors allege that he abused four victims, three of them underage girls, over a span of 12 years.
Kelly and his attorney have denied the charges.
Bond was set at $1 million on those charges, but Kelly was unable to post the necessary $100,000 until after he spent a weekend in the jail. Court records indicate that a Romeoville woman posted his bail, identifying herself on the bond slip as Kelly's "friend."
Little is known about Kelly's child-support problems because the case _ originally a divorce filing _ was ordered sealed by a judge years ago.
After Kelly was jailed, Cara Smith, chief policy officer at the sheriff's office, said Kelly had been found in contempt and ordered to jail.
