CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago prosecutors have charged R&B star R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, according to media reports citing court records.
Charges filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago say the abuse dated as far back as 1998 and as recently as 2010. He’s accused of sexually abusing four different victims.
The charges filed Friday list four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. The victims are listed only by initials in the document. They date back to at least 1998.
A Chicago judge has authorized a no-bail arrest warrant for R. Kelly, after the R&B singer was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.
Judge Dennis Porter signed the order. No-bail arrest warrants don’t necessarily mean the defendant won’t eventually be offered bail once appearing in court to answer the charges.
Kelly has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse for decades and was acquitted in 2008 on child pornography charges. Kelly, through his attorneys, has consistently denied the allegations.
The allegations were spotlighted again this year in a Lifetime documentary. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx later urged victims and witnesses to come forward.
Foxx is expected to discuss the latest charges at a Friday news conference. Kelly faces 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse
Kelly, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, is one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. He has won multiple Grammys, including for his hit-song, “I Believe I Can Fly.”
Jurors acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial. Those charges stemmed from a video prosecutors alleged showed Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13.
Attorney Michael Avenatti said last week that he recently gave Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of Kelly having sex with an underage girl.