The Maui News - Weekender

R. Kelly faces new federal sex charges

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CHICAGO — R. Kelly and his entourage recruited girls and women to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer and covered up the crimes by paying off and threatenin­g victims and witnesses, federal prosecutor­s alleged Friday in indictment­s that could keep the Grammy winner behind bars for decades.

Because they come from the federal government, the accusation­s add a new dimension to the allegation­s against Kelly, who was already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutor­s this year.

One federal indictment in Chicago said Kelly arranged for a girl and her parents to travel overseas to prevent them from talking with police prior to his 2002 indictment on 21 counts of child pornograph­y. The R&B artist allegedly later instructed them to lie to a grand jury about the case. Kelly was acquitted in 2008 of the charges, which accused him of recording a video of sex acts with the girl, who was 12 or 13 when they met in the mid1990s.

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