R. Kelly has been indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse by a grand jury in Chicago, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced in a press conference Friday. A Cook County judge issued a no-bail arrest warrant for the embattled R&B singer over the charges, which involved four victims, at least three of whom were minors. TMZ reports that Kelly intends to turn himself in to police on Friday night, and Foxx stated that she expects him to appear in bond court on Saturday.
R. Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced https://t.co/SqxMHmUqUEpic.twitter.com/k463r5WVFW
— CNN (@CNN) February 22, 2019
Kelly has been the subject of an array of abuse allegations for years now. He was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2002, and since then he’s been accused of numerous instances of sexual abuse, engaging in sexual relationships with minors, false imprisonment and several other crimes. A recent Lifetime docuseries titled Surviving R. Kelly brought renewed attention to these allegations, and the singer has since been made the subject of criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions, including Cook County in Illinois and Atlanta, Georgia’s Fulton County. The new charges come after Foxx made a public statement asking R. Kelly’s victims to come forward and cooperate in bringing charges against the singer. A more recent report revealed that new video evidence—in which Kelly can reportedly be seen sexually assaulting a minor—had come to light, suggesting that the singer would soon be indicted.
Meanwhile, Kelly has been dropped by his longtime record label Sony Music, and his former manager Henry James Mason has been arrested for making terroristic threats against his accusers. Another of Kelly’s former managers is under investigation for similar charges.
According to Foxx, the charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse carries a sentence of three to seven years in prison per count, so if convicted, Kelly could face up to 70 years in prison.