An old photo of R. Kelly leaving jail is being shared online but the singer is still in custody

The singer R. Kelly faces 22 federal criminal charges connected to allegations that he sexually abused 11 girls and women. Kelly, who denies the charges, has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. 

An image that’s being shared on social media shows Kelly walking out of a facility with barbed-wire fences. 

"The GOAT is out!!" one post that shared the photo on June 2 said, using emojis. 

But the image is from 2019.

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The photo shows Kelly leaving Cook County Jail in Chicago with attorney Steve Greenberg on March 9, 2019. He had been arrested for outstanding child support payments, and he was released after paying off the $161,000 he owed to his ex-wife, ABC News reported at the time. 

Prison records show that Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is 54 years old. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a Robert Sylveste Kelly, age 54, was in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago as of June 4. We don’t know why "Sylvester" is missing an R on the prison bureau’s website, but the register number listed there for Kelly matches what’s appeared in court filings and news coverage.

We rate this post False.