A Brooklyn judge has denied R. Kelly's plea to dismiss two counts in his federal indictment.
According to Complex, the singer was trying to get his charge for knowingly infecting a woman with herpes dropped. Kelly, who is facing a number of criminal charges including sex-trafficking, racketeering and coercion in relation to six women and girls, tried to claim that it was unconstitutional for someone to be barred from engaging in consensual sexual activity because they have contracted a sexually transmitted infection.
The judge dismissed Kelly’s defense’s claims and ruled that “public health is a legitimate state interest,” which means that there can be penalizations for any who who has unprotected sex while knowingly having a sexually transmitted disease and choose to not inform their partner.
R. Kelly’s racketeering charge will not be dropped either.