R Kelly charged with abusing multiple victims including three underage girls
Kelly due to appear at bond hearing tomorrow, says Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx
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R Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, following weeks of mounting accusations against him.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx formally announced the charges at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
She said Kelly was expected to appear in bond court on Saturday afternoon.
Foxx listed four victims during her announcement and said three of them were under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged abuse.
She said the incidents allegedly took place between 1998 and 2010.
Aggravated criminal sexual abuse carries a sentencing range of three to seven years and was probationable, the Cook County State’s Attorney noted.
Kelly’s arraignment date has been set to 8 March, according to court records published by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Sun-Times reported that a judge had approved a no-bail arrest warrant for the 52-year-old singer.
Attorney Michael Avenatti claimed earlier this month that a newly uncovered video showed the singer sexually assaulting an underage girl.
The lawyer said he and his team delivered the tape, along with other information, to Foxx’s office.
Avenatti then claimed earlier this week that another tape allegedly showed further acts of sexual abuse of an underage girl by R Kelly.
Kelly has faced accusations of sexual misconduct for two decades and has never been convicted.
Allegations against Kelly have received more attention following the release of the documentary Surviving R Kelly in January.
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Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, has previously denied all accusations against the singer, saying that Kelly never knowingly had sex with an underage person.
The singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, is one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. He has won three Grammys for his song “I Believe I Can Fly”.
The Independent has contacted Greenberg for comment.
Additional reporting by agencies.