Hip-hop artist R Kelly was released from a Chicago jail this morning after posting a $100,000 (£76,000) bail that allows him to go free while awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges.
The musician - full name Robert Sylvester Kelly - handed himself in at the 1st District Chicago police station on Friday night, hours after the Cook County State’s Attorney office issued a warrant for his arrest.
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“The singer has faced decades of sexual abuse claims without being convicted, and has denied all previous allegations,” says the BBC.
Kelly found not guilty of 14 charges of child pornography in 2008. The new charges cover the period of 1998 to 2010.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who is representing two of the alleged victims, said that he had turned over a 55-minute tape to prosecutors that depicts the artist “engaged in illegal sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl”.
“The conduct in the tape can be described as nothing short of outrageous and illegal,” Avenatti said, adding that he was in possession of further tapes. He declined to comment on what that footage shows.
Music news site NME reports: “One of the allegations reportedly involves a woman that he met at a restaurant on her 16th birthday, and another reportedly occurred when she asked for his autograph.”
Kelly’s lawyer has said he believes “all the women are lying” - comments that Avenatti called “outrageous and completely unprofessional”.
Lizette Martinez - an alleged victim of the star who was featured in recent documentary Surviving R Kelly - told reporters in Los Angeles that Kelly was a “predator” who “must be held accountable for the lives he’s ruined”.
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