R. Kelly was "guilty as hell" of child pornography charges and received "libido-killing shots" to control his urges and stay out of prison, says the lawyer who defended the R&B legend 10 years ago and helped him get an acquittal.
Ed Genson, 77, made the revelation to the Chicago Sun-Times from his Deerfield, Illinois, home Thursday.
"He was guilty as hell!" Genson said, referring to the six-year case that finally saw the star, whose real name is Robert Kelly, acquitted of those charges in 2008. The statement comes as Kelly now faces 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, including against minors, all allegations he fervently denies.
Genson told the Chicago-Sun Times he did not think Kelly has "done anything inappropriate for years." This is largely due to the fact the lawyer convinced the 52-year-old performer to seek help.
"I'll tell you a secret: I had him go to a doctor to get shots, libido-killing shots," Genson noted. "That's why he didn't get arrested for anything else."
Genson's unusual candor might be the result of the fact he is battling cancer.
"I have bile duct cancer – terminal cancer," he said.
Whether or not the libido-reducing treatment for R. Kelly was successful remains a mystery. Kelly's career has been marred by ongoing allegations of sexual misconduct which came to a head last month when he was indicted following accusations of aggravated criminal sexual abuse that involved four victims, The New York Times reported. Despite the renewed scrutiny, Genson said he did not feel ambivalent about keeping Kelly from going to prison.
"I didn’t facilitate him. He had already done what he’d done," he told the Chicago-Sun Times. "I did facilitate him in the sense I kept him out of trouble for 10 years. I was vetting his records. I listened to them, which ones would make a judge mad."
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