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R Kelly charged for aggravated sexual abuse, risks up to 70 years behind bars

February 23rd, 2019 2 min read

American R&B singer R Kelly was on Friday placed in handcuffs and locked up in a Chicago police station just hours after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four alleged victims.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx confirmed the charges the artiste is facing.

In court, prosecutors presented a variety of alleged sexual misconduct in a 36-page indictment.

The charges accuse R Kelly of sexual acts with three children older than 13 but younger than 17. The fourth victim’s age is unspecified.

The artiste is also facing charges of using force or the threat of force on the said victims.

He is expected to appear in court on Saturday for a bond hearing of the 10 counts he was charged and arraignment is set for March 8.

R&B singer R Kelly being taken into custody after turning himself in at 1st District-Central police station on February 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP PHOTO

R&B singer R Kelly being taken into custody after turning himself in at 1st District-Central police station on February 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP PHOTOSEXUAL MISCONDUCT

If convicted, could face a maximum of up to 70 years in jail (seven years for each count), reported CNN.

Earlier this month a Grand Jury was convened in Cook County in connection with new allegations against the 52-year-old artiste.

R Kelly has been the subject of renewed public scrutiny since January when Lifetime aired a damning six-partdocu-series titled Surviving R Kelly, which exposed the artiste’s alleged history of sexual misconduct.

There have allegations of sexual misconduct against R Kelly for the last 20 years but most of these cases have been settled out of court. In 2008, he was acquitted in the only case that went to trial.

“You know, I stand firmly in the belief that we’re only now hearing this because these were black girls, that he was not tried or successfully prosecuted in the past because these were young, black girls,” said Jamilah Lemieux, a former senior editor at Ebony magazine, who was interviewed in the Surviving R Kelly docu-series.