For the better part of two decades, R. Kelly has been accused by countless women and young girls of sexual misconduct in a variety of forms, though he’s largely managed to avoid serious legal consequences. That appears to have changed today, as R. Kelly (full name Robert Kelly) has been officially charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving several women—at least three of them minors, according to multiple reports.
As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, “A Cook County [IL] judge has approved a no-bail arrest warrant for embattled R&B superstar R. Kelly. … The alleged crimes span from 1998 to 2010, records show. The minors were between 13 and 16, prosecutors allege.”
Michael Avenatti, a well-known attorney who said he recently provided a videotape of R. Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, applauded prosecutors for filing charges. As CNN notes, “The newly unearthed footage, which lasts 42 minutes and 45 seconds, is clear and explicit. … What is on the video mirrors some of the alleged acts for which Kelly was arrested in a child pornography case in 2002 when he was 35 and then acquitted six years later.”
After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R Kelly has arrived.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) February 22, 2019
Over the years, Kelly has been sued by multiple women accusing him of having sex with them when they were underage. He has consistently denied these accusations. Most of the cases, with the exception of the trial where he was acquitted, were settled out of court.
The new charges come in the wake of the highly disturbing recent Lifetime docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly, which paints an extensive, graphically vivid picture of Kelly’s history of sexual abuse allegations, particularly by underage girls. Following the recent outpouring of allegations, the entertainment industry had already begun to turn its back on Kelly. A growing movement, marked by the hashtag #MuteRKelly, has been campaigning radio stations, streaming services, and other industry entities to remove Kelly’s music from their arsenals.
In 2017, a BuzzFeed report claimed that Kelly had been keeping several young women against their wills as part of a “sex cult,” though he was not formally charged based on those allegations.
This story is still developing.
[H/T Chicago Sun-Times]
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