R. Kelly’s lawyers ask judge to throw out sex abuse lawsuit

Attorneys for embattled R&B superstar R. Kelly are asking a Cook County judge to throw out a civil sexual abuse case filed against the singer.

Kelly’s attorneys filed the motion to dismiss Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court, arguing that the statute of limitations to file the complaint had long since expired.

The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 21, a day before Kelly was initially charged with 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse. The plaintiff — who the Chicago Sun-Times is not naming — is one of the four alleged victims in Kelly’s criminal case.

The lawsuit alleges that Kelly sexually abused the plaintiff — who was a minor at the time — in 1998 after a member of the singer’s entourage invited her to his former studio. It wasn’t until several years later, the lawsuit says, that the woman underwent therapy and realized she was abused.

In their motion to dismiss, Kelly’s lawyers argue that the woman had only until 2002 to file any claim for damages.

State law, however, says a person has up to 20 years from “the date the person abused discovers” their abuse to file litigation civil litigation.

After a brief hearing at the Daley Center Thursday morning, the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey Deutschman, said Kelly’s lawyers “have a right to do this,” but their motion to dismiss “just makes [the civil case] go longer.”

Earlier this month, Kelly’s attorneys also filed a motion to stay the civil case until the completion of his criminal case. Judge Moira Susan Johnson has yet to rule on either motion, and the next hearing in the civil case is set for late August.

Johnson had initially found in favor of the plaintiff after Kelly didn’t respond to summonses in the lawsuit. Kelly soon after retained new attorneys, who argued that he missed his court appearances because he is, essentially, illiterate.

On Wednesday, Cook County prosecutors turned over a DVD to Kelly’s criminal defense team. The disc, converted from a VHS tape, was given to the state’s attorney’s office by celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti and purports to show Kelly engaged in sex acts with an underage girl.

Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood said Wednesday that he wants Kelly’s criminal trial to commence early next year — a far cry from his previous criminal case in which he was charged in 2002 but didn’t stand trial until 2008.

Kelly is charged with criminal sexual abuse in cases involving four victims, three of them minors, dating back to the late 1990s.