CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on charges against singer R. Kelly (all times local):
9 p.m.
R. Kelly’s attorney says one of the charges the R&B star faces appears to be tied to a decade-old child pornography case.
Steve Greenberg also told reporters shortly after Kelly turned himself in to Chicago police Friday night that he has yet to view a videotape reportedly showing the singer having sex with an underage girl.
That tape was given to authorities by attorney Michael Avenatti.
Authorities announced multiple charges earlier Friday against Kelly of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
___
8:35 p.m.
Chicago police say R&B star R. Kelly has been taken into custody in connection with multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Friday night that Kelly was arrested at a precinct and will appear Saturday afternoon in court.
Kelly arrived at the police building about 8:15 p.m. Friday.
___
8:15 p.m.
R&B star R. Kelly has arrived at a Chicago police station hours after authorities announced multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
The 52-year-old singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, arrived at the precinct in a van about 8:15 p.m. Friday. If taken into custody, he is expected to be held overnight and appear Saturday in bond court.
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Kim Foxx announced 10 counts Friday against the Grammy winner. She said the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct, but he has been dogged for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves.
___
5:15 p.m.
R. Kelly’s attorney says the singer is “shell-shocked” by the aggravated sexual abuse indictment against him and plans to turn himself in to authorities Friday night.
Steve Greenberg told The Associated Press that his client is “extraordinarily disappointed and depressed” by the 10 counts Chicago prosecutors filed against him.
Greenberg said he had offered to sit down with prosecutors before charges were filed to discuss “why these charges are baseless.” But they refused, he said.
He said Kelly maintains his innocence and looks forward to being acquitted at trial.
___
4:45 p.m.
Attorney Michael Avenatti says a 14-year-old girl seen with R. Kelly on a video Avenatti turned over to prosecutors is among four victims in a newly released indictment charging the singer with aggravated sexual abuse.
Avenatti said at a Friday news conference in Chicago that the video shows two separate scenes on two separate days at Kelly’s residence at the time during the late 1990s. Avenatti says during the video both the victim and Kelly reference her age 10 times.
Avenatti says he represents six clients, including two victims, two parents and two people who he describes as “knowing R. Kelly and being within his inner circle for the better part of 25 years.”
___
4:30 p.m.
Attorney Michael Avenatti says he believes more than 10 people associated with R&B singer R. Kelly should be criminally charged as “enablers” to his alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
Avenatti spoke at a news conference in Chicago on the same day prosecutors announced 10 counts against the Grammy Award-winning singer. Avenatti said he represents six people in the case, whom he described as two victims, two parents and two “whistleblowers” who may have been members of Kelly’s inner circle.
He says some of Kelly’s associates over the years should also be charged because they “looked the other way” when girls were assaulted “because they didn’t want to kill the golden goose.”
___
2:25 p.m.
R&B star R. Kelly is scheduled to appear in bond court Saturday in Chicago after he was charged with sexual abuse allegations spanning more than a decade.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Friday afternoon announced the 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. They involve four victims, at least three of whom were younger than 17. Foxx said the sentencing range for aggravated sexual assault is up to seven years in prison.
If he is convicted on all 10 counts, a judge could decide that the sentences run one after the other - making it possible that he receives a sentence of up to 70 years behind bars.
Probation is also an option under statute.
__
This story has been corrected to reflect the charges spanned more than a decade.
___
2:10 p.m.
Court documents charging R&B star R. Kelly with sexual abuse say the assaults occurred over a more than a decade timeframe.
Charges filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago say the abuse dated as far back as 1998 and as recently as 2010. He’s accused of sexually abusing four different victims.
Kelly has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse for decades and was acquitted in 2008 on child pornography charges. Kelly, through his attorneys, has consistently denied the allegations.
The allegations were spotlighted again this year in a Lifetime documentary. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx later urged victims and witnesses to come forward.
Foxx is expected to discuss the latest charges at a Friday news conference. Kelly faces 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse
___
2 p.m.
A Chicago judge has authorized a no-bail arrest warrant for R. Kelly, after the R&B singer was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.
Judge Dennis Porter signed the order. No-bail arrest warrants don’t necessarily mean the defendant won’t eventually be offered bail once appearing in court to answer the charges.
The charges filed Friday list four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. The victims are listed only by initials in the document. They date back to at least 1998.
___
1:50 p.m.
Court documents charging R. Kelly with aggravated sexual abuse involve multiple victims dating back to at least 1998.
The charges filed Friday list four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. The victims are listed only by initials in the document.
There have been years of allegations directed at Kelly, accusing the now 52-year-old of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls. Through his lawyers, he has consistently denied them.
Jurors acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial.
___
12:50 p.m.
Chicago prosecutors have charged R&B star R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, according to media reports citing court records.
Friday’s charges come after years of allegations directed at Kelly, accusing the now 52-year-old of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls. Through his lawyers, he has consistently denied them.
Kelly, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, is one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. He has won multiple Grammys, including for his hit-song, “I Believe I Can Fly.”
Jurors acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial. Those charges stemmed from a video prosecutors alleged showed Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13.
Attorney Michael Avenatti said last week that he recently gave Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of Kelly having sex with an underage girl.
___
12:25 p.m.
Attorney Michael Avenatti says he has evidence R. Kelly and his “enablers” paid witnesses and others to “rig” the outcome of the R&B star’s 2008 trial, when he was acquitted on child pornography charges.
Avenatti told The Associated Press that’s one piece of information he’ll present at a news conference Friday in Chicago.
Kelly has denied allegations of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls for years. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Avenatti said last week he gave the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office a videotape he says shows Kelly having sex with an underage girl.
On Thursday, two women said Kelly picked them out of a crowd at Baltimore after-party in the mid-1990s and had sex with one of them, who was 16.
___
More of The Associated Press’ coverage of the investigations into R. Kelly can be found at: https://www.apnews.com/RKelly .
Please read our comment policy before commenting.