R&B star R Kelly (52) charged with abuse of girls under 17
GRAMMY-winning singer R Kelly has been charged with sexual abuse of at least three girls under 17, following years of allegations against the 52-year-old R&B singer.
Cook County State Attorney Kimberly Foxx said Kelly was expected to appear in court today for a bail hearing on 10 counts.
Of four female victims in the case, at least three whom he allegedly abused between 1998 and 2010 were under the age of 17 at the time, she said. The age of the fourth was not provided.
Kelly faces three to seven years in prison on each count.
He has strongly denied the accusations.
In January, Ms Foxx had called for anyone alleging abuse by the singer to come forward so their claims could be investigated. She made the remarks after the six-hour documentary “Surviving R Kelly” had been aired on US pay TV channel Lifetime.
The programme sparked a furore on social media, and singer Lady Gaga vowed to remove a duet she recorded with Kelly from streaming services and never collaborate with him again.
Kelly, singer of ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ and record producer, has for years denied accusations of abuse, including those made in the documentary.
In 2008, the singer was tried and acquitted on child pornography charges in Chicago.
He has been sued by multiple women accusing him of having sex with them when they were under age.
Most cases, with the exception of the trial where he was acquitted, have been settled out of court.
Kelly’s record label, Sony Music-owned RCA, split with the Chicago native last month after activists from the #MuteRKelly pressure group delivered a petition signed by some 217,000 people to the company’s headquarters in New York demanding that the record company drop the musician.
Separately last month, a former manager for the singer turned himself into authorities in Georgia, where he was wanted on a charge of making threats against one of the families that took part in the Lifetime documentary.