The R&B star charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse

R. Kelly has been charged with multiple counts of criminal sex abuse involving four victims — including minors — in his native Chicago, according to reports Friday, citing court records.
The R&B star was hit with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse in Cook County on Friday.
The charges involve incidents from 1998 to 2010, the news outlet reported, noting that at least three of the alleged victims are minors. Prosecutors say the minors were between 13 and 16 years old.
According to TMZ, nine of the 10 counts against 52-year-old Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, involve the young teens.
One of the victims is the subject of four different counts, and there are a total of four alleged victims.
Sources connected to Kelly told TMZ that the singer plans to voluntarily turn himself into authorities Friday night.
The charges come after news outlets reported this week that a grand jury convened in Cook County in connection to a sex tape that allegedly showed Kelly assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who is representing multiple alleged victims of the “I Believe I Can Fly Singer,” said last week that he handed over the videotape to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
“Including in the evidence we recently uncovered and recovered is a VHS videotape of Mr. Kelly engaging in multiple sexual assaults of a girl underage,” Avenatti said in a statement last week on Twitter. “This tape, which is clear, is approximately 45 minutes in length and has never previously been publicly disclosed or, until recently, provided to law enforcement.
“As part of our effort to ensure Mr. Kelly is finally held accountable for his repeated sexual assaults of minors spanning over two decades, we have provided extensive information, including the videotape described above and witnesses, to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in Chicago,” the statement read.
Avenatti, who is best known as the lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels, applauded the charges Friday in a tweet, saying, “After 25 years of serial sex abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R Kelly has arrived.”
In another tweet minutes before that, Avenatti wrote: “It’s over.”
Two women testified for the grand jury over the past week, including one who provided physical evidence, TMZ reported. They were among as many as a dozen accusers to testify.
Kelly’s attorney, Steven Greenburg, told the Chicago Sun-Times early Friday afternoon that he had not been notified that his client was charged and maintained as he has in the past that Kelly denies any wrongdoing.
Kelly has received multiple Grammys, including for hit song “I Believe I Can Fly.”
At a 2008 trial, jurors acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges, which stemmed from a video prosecutors alleged showed Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13.
Kelly has denied allegations of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls for years.

Comments

Anonymous said…
o my God,R kelly
22 February 2019 at 13:56
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fidel Castro’s ashes interred in private ceremony

Image
SANTIAGO, Cuba — Fidel Castro’s ashes were interred in a private ceremony Sunday morning, ending nine days of mourning for the man who ruled Cuba for nearly half a century. The military caravan bearing his remains in a flag-draped cedar coffin left the Plaza of the Revolution in the eastern city of Santiago at 6:39 a.m. Thousands of people lined the two-mile route to Santa Ifigenia cemetery, waving Cuban flags and shouting “Long live Fidel!” Photographs taken by Cuban state media showed that the interment was presided over by Castro’s younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro, who wore his green military uniform as he placed the older man’s ashes into what appeared to be a niche in his tomb, a simple, grey, round stone about 15 feet high. The niche was then covered by a plaque bearing the single name, “Fidel.” Those in attendance included Castro’s wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, other members of his family and presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel O
Read more

EU Skepticism in Austria Underpinned

  Austrians continue to be among the biggest EU skeptics in Europe. Only 35 percent regard the EU as a whole as "positive," while the EU average is 45 percent. Just under a third of respondents in Austria are in favor of EU enlargement, while across Europe half are in favor. However, just under one-third of Austrian respondents disapprove of the EU as a whole, an increase of four percentage points compared with the previous Eurobarometer. On average in Europe, only 18 percent feel this negatively about the Union. Austrian respondents are particularly skeptical about close military cooperation within the EU. Only 56 percent are in favor of a common EU security and defense policy, compared with 77 percent across Europe. Interestingly, however, there is a high willingness to support Ukraine not only humanitarian and financially. Around two-thirds of Europeans and just under half of Austrians surveyed are in favor of accession candidate status for Ukraine. The survey, entitled &q
Read more

Snapchat has apologized to Rihanna and Chris Brown

Image
Snapchat has apologized for approving and promoting an ad which asked users if they “would rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown.” The ad, featured on the California-based social media platform, appeared to reference Brown’s conviction for assaulting Rihanna in his car after a pre-Grammy party in 2009. Rihanna, pictured posing with long red locks, is positioned next to the phrase “Slap Rihanna.” Brown is positioned directly under her, appearing to dance, next to the phrase “Punch Chris Brown.” Shocked Snapchat users took to other social media platforms to express their disgust and question why the ad was created in the first place. A Snapchat spokesperson told Sun Online: “The ad was reviewed and approved in error as it violates our advertising guidelines. We immediately removed the ad last weekend, once we became aware. We are sorry that this happened.” Social media user @TheRoyceMann took a screenshot of the advert on Sunday and tweeted: “Is it just me, or is
Read more