R. Kelly’s lawyers are asking a Chicago judge to dismiss his 2019 lawsuit in which the singer was accused of abusing a minor a little over two decades ago. Kelly’s legal team reportedly filed a motion to dismiss at the Cook County Circuit Court on Wednesday (June 26), The Chicago Sun-Times reports.
According to the lawsuit, the sex abuse allegedly occurred in 1998. The plaintiff reportedly filed the lawsuit in Feb. 2019.
Kelly’s attorneys argue that the lawsuit was filed past the statute of limitations; the victim reportedly had until 2002 to sue. Despite their claims, state law says a person has up to 20 years from “the date the person abused discovers” their abuse to file civil litigation.
After the hearing at the Daley Center in Chicago, the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey Deutschman, said Kelly’s lawyers “have a right” to file dismiss the case, but their motion “just makes [the civil case] go longer.”
The plaintiff of the current lawsuit is one of four accusers in Kelly’s separate criminal case. Kelly denies any abuse took place.