What was R. Kelly charged with in Minnesota?
R. Kelly has recently been on the news for all the wrong reasons. He has been accused of sexual assault and engaging in sexual relations with minors. According to the press conference held in the afternoon of August 5th, 2019 in Minneapolis, he was charged on two accounts of prostitution with a person aged below 18 years.
Source: UGC
The said incident took place in 2001 and it follows several serious sexual misconduct charges that were brought forth against the artist sometime last month in Chicago as well as in New York. He is also accused of other charges.
R. Kelly charges in Minnesota
According to Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County Attorney, the charges leveled against the RnB performer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, are in the form of summons and it is unknown as to when he will respond. The artist's attorney said that it was unclear if R. Kelly had even met the woman before and he termed this as "revisionist history."
Mike Freeman further said that the assault occurred when the minor approached the artist back in 2001, requesting an autograph. In addition to the autograph, Kelly went on to give the 17-year-old girl his number.
After a call, the girl was allegedly directed by someone she believed to be a member of staff, to Kelly's room in a Minneappolis hotel. The complaint stated that Kelly offered the girl $200 to dance for him after they made small talk. He went on to undress her as he also undressed, all the while touching her sexually. As if that was not enough, he allegedly offered the girl VIP tickets to his concert where she attended the 'over 18' concert without necessarily having to show her ID or paying for the show.
READ ALSO: Singer R. Kelly reportedly charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Chicago
The girl further alleged that she was to go to Chicago with Kelly, but he changed his contact number hence losing touch with each other. The girl contacted law enforcement agencies to report her encounter after the allegations against Kelly surfaced. The attorneys were able to confirm the allegations from the girl's brother who saw her at the concert after she told him of how Kelly had paid her to dance for him. The brother confirmed that his sister did not want to discuss the issue in details.
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In a statement, Mr Freeman said,
"It is despicable that Mr. Kelly used his fame in order to prey on underaged girls."
He further stated the lack of clarity in whether Kelly would appear at the Minnesota court as he had pending charges in New York and Illinois. He is quoted saying,
"While there are more numerous charges in the Illinois and federal cases, we wanted to make sure that our victim here in Minneapolis also receives a measure of justice."
Kelly's attorney responds to the latest charges
Doug Anton, one of Kelly's lawyers had the following to say about the newly emerged charges:
"Frankly I don't understand where the criminal activity exists in this matter. But I believe this highlights what has now become the absurdity of The bulk of the charges against our client...When a top law-enforcement figure makes a public cry for the world to come and be famous by telling their sordid story, true or not, it inherently invites people to create revisionist history and put a different label on simple fan rockstar encounters."
He went on to say that it was unknown to them if Kelly had even met the girl in question. His statement confirms this:
"All we know is that yet another person has come forward either by their own desire or by being dragged in to the fray by prosecutors looking to make a name for themselves."
Not guilty - Kelly pleads to all other charges
Kelly has been on the stand facing charges for several accusations most of them revolving around his misuse and manipulation of underage girls for the past 2 decades. The Minnesota accusation joins the list of accusations as the latest one made so far.
In the New York court, Kelly pleaded not guilty on several accounts of racketeering, forced labour, kidnapping, and sexual exploitation of a child. The federal court had indicted him on the accusation of transporting women and girls for illegal sexual activity across state lines. What is more, out of the 5 un-mentioned ladies, 3 of them were underage. He is also said to have knowingly infected another person with a sexually transmitted infection.
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He was also charged by the grand juries in both New York and Illinois in July. He was being accused of enlisting women for sexual activities, persuading other people to cover up his sexual misconduct with underage teenagers, as well as purchasing all the tapes that showed him having sexual relations with minor girls.
Of these charges, he pleaded not guilty for 13 counts in Illinois including 4 counts of child pornography production as well as 5 counts of minor enticement to take part in criminal sexual activities. His accusations also include videotaping himself having sex with not less than 4 underage girls from as far back as 1998.
He is set to appear to the Chicago court on September 4th, to know the status of the hearing of the mentioned charges.
He also pleaded not guilty in Illinois back in February when he was accused of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against 3 under-aged girls and one other person. He paid a bond of $100,000 but was re-arrested and jailed later in March when the court discovered that he had failed to pay his ex-wife over $160,000 in the form of child support. He was not in for too long as he was released when an unknown person settled the bill for him.
Currently, R. Kelly is still under police custody as from July 2019. He awaits trial on the 13 counts of accusation. Hopefully, there will be an end to all that is happening soon and that justice shall be served.
READ ALSO:
- How much is R Kelly worth in 2019?
- Sexual abuse scandal: R Kelly’s girlfriends defend him, say their parents lied because of money (video)
- R Kelly arrested for unpaid child support amid sexual abuse claims
Source: Legit.ng
