R. Kelly Pays Ex-Wife $62K in Back Child Support

R. Kelly managed to avoid jail time by paying $62,000 in back child support to his ex-wife and mother of his three children, Drea Kelly, yesterday.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the embattled singer, who is also facing multiple sexual abuse allegations, was at the Daley Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday, May 8, for the child support hearing.

Kelly reportedly handed Drea a check for $62,499.70 which covers his payments for March, April, and May, and according to TMZ, the singer’s publicist Darrell Johnson claims his client has the amounts for June, July, and August set aside in an escrow account.

The singer’s lawyers are arguing that their client did not respond to the lawsuit because he can't read.

"[He] now looks forward to clearing his name in and being cleared of all charges in the near future," Johnson told the outlet.

Kelly’s current agreement has him paying a little over $20,000 to Drea for their 21-year-old daughter Joann (also known as Buku Abi), and their sons Jay and Robert, Jr.

PREVIOUS JAIL TIME

Recall that the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner was arrested on March 6 for falling behind in his child support obligations and had to have the $160,000+ debt cleared anonymously on his behalf before he was released.

At a follow-up hearing soon after, Kelly requested that the court lower the $20,000 amount because he wasn’t earning as much anymore and couldn’t afford it.

EX-WIFE'S ACCUSATIONS

Drea, meanwhile, told PEOPLE that her ex-husband stopped paying child support after she went public with allegations of physical and sexual abuse against him last June.

“He stopped paying child support when I came forward with my story, so he’s still economically abusing me,” she claimed. “So, it’s like, ‘Oh, okay, you want to tell your story? Fine. I’m cutting off child support.'”

THE GAME-CHANGING DOCUMENTARY

Drea’s allegations, along with those of other women, were detailed in an explosive Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” that premiered earlier this year.

The three-part docuseries sparked renewed interest in Kelly’s sexual misconduct allegations that date as far back as the 1990s and culminated in new criminal sexual abuse charges in February.

The 52- year-old singer turned himself in after Cook County prosecutors charged him on February 22 with a total of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse towards four women. Three of those women were minors at the time the alleged abuse took place between 1998 and 2010.

KELLY'S LAWYERS CLAIM HE'S ILLITERATE

One of those women also filed a separate lawsuit against Kelly on February 21, claiming he began a sexual relationship with her when she was 16, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

According to the outlet, Judge Moira Johnson entered a default judgment last month in favor of the accuser after Kelly refused to respond to the suit. Now, the singer’s lawyers are arguing that their client did not respond to the lawsuit because he can't read.

The attorneys also appeared before Judge Johnson on Wednesday, May 8, and sought to vacate the default judgment with their latest argument. The Judge has since reinstated the lawsuit, reports The Guardian.