R. Kelly facing more legal woe

R&B singer R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to an updated US federal indictment that includes child pornography charges and allegations involving a new accuser, while prosecutors said more charges alleging yet another victim were upcoming.

Kelly, 53, stood silently in orange prison garb with his hands behind his back as his attorney entered the plea on his behalf at the arraignment hearing in Chicago.

The government plans to file more new charges in the coming weeks, adding another accuser, prosecutor Angel Krull said during the hearing.

She didn’t elaborate except to say agents recently seized more than 100 electronic devices, including hard drives, in the case.

Agents wielding a search warrant hauled the items away from a storage facility outside Chicago where Kelly keeps some of his equipment, defence attorney Steve Greenberg told reporters after the hearing.

“We expect that they’re not going to find anything incriminating,” he said.

The possibility of new charges in yet another superseding indictment was among the reasons cited by US District Judge

Harry Leinenweber to push Kelly’s April 27 trial date to October 13.

The 13-count superseding indictment was unsealed last month. It is largely the same as the original indictment – which also had 13 counts – but includes a reference to a new accuser, referred to only as “Minor 6”.

The charges include child pornography, the sexual exploitation of children and conspiracy to defraud the US government, as well as the coercion or enticement of a female.

Kelly (pictured) has denied abusing anyone.