R. Kelly is to remain locked up

Disgraced R&B legend R. Kelly was denied release from jail for a third time on Friday by a Brooklyn judge who wasn’t moved by the accused sex trafficker’s fear of contracting coronavirus.

The one-time star (inset) is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, where several other inmates have reported COVID-19 infections. But even with a confirmed coronavirus outbreak at the facility, the charges against the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer are too serious for his release, Brooklyn Federal Judge Ann Donnelly said in her decision.

“The indictment charges that for almost twenty-four years, the defendant led an enterprise, the purposes of which were to promote the defendant’s music, to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with the defendant and to produce child pornography,” Judge Donnelly wrote.

“The defendant is alleged to have secured witnesses’ silence,” the judge added, noting that he’s also accused of blackmailing, threatening and intimidating witnesses.

She also said the 53-year-old Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, might try to flee the country if released.

“The defendant is charged in Illinois and New York with extraordinarily serious crimes, for which he faces a long prison term if convicted. That prospect makes him a flight risk,” she wrote.

The fallen star is accused of running a racketeering scheme and heading an enterprise that trafficked women and underage girls who would come to his shows, forcing them to call him “Daddy,” and not letting them leave their rooms or eat without his permission.

Kelly’s trial in Brooklyn is now set for Sept. 29.