R. Kelly Arrested on Criminal Sexual Abuse Charges
R. Kelly has been arrested after being charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse earlier today. The singer turned himself in to Chicago authorities tonight (February 22), according to Chicago Tribune reporter Megan Crepeau. Crepeau posted a video of Kelly surrendering to police earlier this evening, accompanied by his lawyer Steven Greenberg. Find that clip below.
Update (02/23 2:15 p.m. ET): CBS Chicago reports that the presiding judge has set Kelly’s bond at $1 million. The bond was set at $250,000 for each of the four cases that led to the total 10 criminal charges. The Associated Press reports prosecutors told the judge that one of the women Kelly is charged with sexually abusing first met the singer during his 2008 child pornography trial, outside the court house. (In 2017, Jim DeRogatis published a report in Buzzfeed News about Jerhonda Pace, a woman who stated that she met Kelly during his 2008 trial and claimed he sexually abused her from May 2009 to January 2010.)
The indictment follows the report that a new videotape of Kelly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl was provided to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago by lawyer Michael Avenatti. Avenatti told CNN that the tape was provided to him by a man he described as a “whistleblower.” The tape, viewed by CNN, reportedly shows Kelly performing multiple sex acts with a girl. Both of them allegedly refer to the girl’s body parts as “14-year-old” in the tape.
In July 2017, journalist and critic Jim DeRogatis published a report investigating accusations against Kelly that described his alleged manipulation of six women as a “cult.” Following the report, more women came forward to detail their own histories of sexual and physical abuse, underage sex, sexual coercion, and more, all allegedly at the hands of Kelly. Following the initial allegations, R. Kelly’s lawyer issued a statement saying that the singer “unequivocally denies such accusations.” The following month, he canceled tour dates for unknown reasons.
In late March, a BBC3 documentary titled R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes was aired. In the film, a former girlfriend named Kitti Jones said Kelly introduced her to a girl “that he told me he ‘trained’ since she was 14” to please him sexually. She also revealed she was groomed by Kelly and forced into sex with him and at least 10 other people in his “sex dungeon.” Backlash to R. Kelly increased following the release of the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” with artists who had previously collaborated with the singer (such as Chance the Rapper, Lady Gaga, and Phoenix) publicly speaking out against him. After sustained protests, Kelly was dropped by his record label RCA in January 2019.
On February 21, two more women came forward alleging sexual misconduct at the hands of R. Kelly in the 1990s. One of the women, Latrice, claimed she was 16 when Kelly plied her with drugs and alcohol before engaging in sexual intercourse with her “even though [she] did not have the capacity to consent.”
