R. Kellyis turning himself in to the authorities, nearly seven hours after being charged with sexual abuse.
The singer-songwriter was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Illinois’ Cook County on Friday afternoon. Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that the star has since been taken into police custody in reference to the alleged crimes and is expected to appear in court on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this morning, it was revealed in documents that there are four alleged victims, with nine of Kelly’s counts involving alleged victims ranging in age from 13 to 16. TMZ reported that in a grand jury hearing in Chicago, two women alleged that the famous singer had sex with minors and reportedly turned over physical evidence to prosecutors.
However, Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg alleges that Cook County State Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx “succumbed to public pressure” and thus charged the singer with the alleged crimes. He insists that the “Ignition” singer is “an innocent man.”
“I think all the women are lying,” Greenberg said during a press conference on Friday evening.
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Moreover, Greenberg alleged that the charges against Kelly constitute a double jeopardy. He claimed in the press conference, “One of the charges appears to involve the same alleged victim from the earlier case, and double jeopardy should power that case. He won that case. The jury heard the facts in that case.”
It has been just weeks since the Lifetime docu-series revealed years of allegations of sexual misconduct against the 52-year-old. Since then, people across the country have voiced their hopes to get justice for the alleged victims.
R. Kelly has consistently denied any allegations of abuse or misconduct over the years.