R. Kelly Has To Use His Royalties To Pay Off His Growing Child Support Bill

(AllHipHop News) R. Kelly must use his song royalty checks to continue paying child support to his ex-wife, a judge has ruled.

R. Kelly spent three days locked up in Chicago, Illinois in March after skipping a court deadline to settle his debts with Andrea Kelly, who claimed she was owed more than $160,000 to help care for their three children.

He was only released from jail after an anonymous donor paid off his debt, and he subsequently found a way to hand over enough money each month to avoid further time behind bars.

Kelly has also been fighting to have his child support payments lowered, insisting he can no longer afford the $21,000 he previously agreed to in the former couple’s 2009 divorce due to a lack of work as he faces felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

His previous attempt to have the figure reduced in March was dismissed, and now the judge overseeing the dispute has ordered the singer to use earnings from his music back catalog to continue meeting the payment deadlines, according to TMZ.

It’s the latest of Kelly’s legal woes – he is currently in jail awaiting trial on numerous federal and state sex abuse charges brought by prosecutors in New York and Chicago, Illinois.