R Kelly ‘engaged to victim’ after sentence

R Kelly is engaged to one of his victims, the woman has claimed, as the relationship came to light weeks after the disgraced R&B singer was jailed for 30 years.

Joycelyn Savage revealed the alleged engagement in a letter to Judge Ann Donnelly, obtained by TMZ, moments before Kelly was sentenced, The Sun reports.

“My name is Joycelyn Savage, and I’m Robert Kelly’s fiance,” she reportedly penned in the letter. “I’m writing this letter in support of Robert in advance of his sentencing, so I can explain to the court that I’m not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be.”

Ms Savage went on to say her “relationship with Robert is amazing,” and they were “deeply in love”.

“He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We have a very special connection and are deeply in love.

“I still support Robert to this day because I love him and will always be here to support him. Robert is not the monster that the government has described him to be.

“The Robert I know is very sweet, gentle, and king. At the end of the day, he has always made sure that I’m taken care of, and any other women he was with as well.

“He is a great man, with a great heart and deserves to be home with his loved ones who are ready to support him,” she concluded.

Gerald Griggs, a lawyer for Ms Savage’s parents, told TMZ she never made the engagement known to the family, and they’ve never even spoken about the possibility beforehand.
 

The family lawyer questions the engagement’s legitimacy because Ms Savage didn’t testify about it under oath and instead slipped it into the letter.

Ms Savage’s family “strongly doubts” the engagement story and would like to reconnect with her to hear the whole story; however, they have not talked to Ms Savage since she left to live with Kelly.

The revelation comes two weeks after the disgraced singer was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of orchestrating a scheme to recruit women and underage kids for sex.

The singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of nine criminal counts last September, including violations of the Mann Act and racketeering.

Judge Ann M Donnelly told the former R&B hit maker, 55, that “the public has to be protected from behaviours like this” before handing him a stiff sentence.
 

“These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years. You taught them that love is enslavement and violence,” Ms Donnelly told the singer.

Kelly declined to make a statement before he was sentenced due to pending litigation, according to his lawyer.

When asked by the judge if he wished to make a statement, Kelly said, “Yes, your honour, that is my wish.”

Kelly is scheduled to face another federal trial alongside his former employees in Illinois.

In that indictment, he is accused of both producing child sexual abuse material and conspiring with employees to corruptly win his 2008 acquittal.

The trial is scheduled to begin on August 15.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission