R. Kelly.

Judging by his recent foray into rap musical sagas, one can only imagine that the guy either takes himself way, way, way too seriously, or has biggest sense of humor ever.

But here’s something else Kelly has a lot of: pending child pornography charges.

So, why hasn’t he even stepped foot inside a courthouse?

The obvious answer is that our justice system is screwed up, and lawyers can keep you running from charges that are over 5 years old for as long as your money holds out.

Besides the 21 counts of child pornography filed in June of 2002 (over a sex tape allegedly made in 1997, which prosecutors claim shows Kelly having sex with a girl around 14 years old), there were 12 other counts (filed in 2003, but not included in the main trail) of allged pornography attached to photographs of the singer and another naked under-aged girl.

While most offenders face a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of such acts, Kelly has successfully pushed his trail back time and time again; a jury selection scheduled for September 17 the most recent postponement.

Not to sound like your mom, but if he’s guilty or not isn’t even the question anymore—it’s the principal of the matter. You get charged with something, you go to court and testify. Not that I would know anything about this, but even people with one too many speeding tickets find themselves pleading before a judge.

Going 50 in and 30 mph zone probably isn’t a good thing, but neither is having sex with a 14-year-old girl and taping it.

If your neighbor had been charged with something like that, you can bet his day and court would have come and gone years ago. And even if he wasn’t convicted, he certainly wouldn’t win any friends in the neighborhood…or get people to go out and buy his newest CD.