After several months of headlines involving R. Kelly and allegations of various forms of sexual assault, today the other shoe has dropped. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx stated that the R&B singer, legally known as Robert Kelly, has been indicted by a grand jury on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four alleged victims, for crimes alleged to have happened between 1998 and 2010. The charges amount to a class 2 felony.
He had been reportedly facing indictment after a story broke that a video was released by celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti that allegedly depicted Kelly sexually assaulting a female minor. According to CNN, who has viewed the video, Kelly and the girl allegedly refer to parts of her body as being “14 years old.” CNN adds that the video is “clear and explicit” and lasts just over 40 minutes.
CNN reports that according his attorney Steve Greenberg, Kelly will turn himself in and is due in court on Saturday (2/23) for his bail hearing. The charges indicated that three of the alleged victims ranged in age from 13-17, while the fourth alleged victim did not have an age rage indicated. If convicted of these charges, he’ll face up to seven years in prison for each count.
R. Kelly has already defeated a legal proceeding against him back in the early ’00s when a video surfaced, which prosecutors alleged depicted the adult singer performing sex acts with minors. After six years, no charges resulted in a conviction, allowing Kelly to resume his life and music career.
Then, last year allegations began to bubble to the surface, with several women accusing him of operating a sex cult. He categorically denied all these allegations.
More recently an explosive docu-series that aired on Lifetime called Surviving R. Kelly was released to much fanfare and controversy. It led to Georgia opening an investigation into the singer’s alleged sex cult and accusations of abusive actions, his record contract being ended with Sony and many artists including Lady Gaga distancing herself from a former collaborator. Kelly fired back by threatening a lawsuit against the producers of the documentary.
UPDATE (2/22): According to CNN, Kelly has turned himself in. He was arrested by Chicago police hours after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.