R. Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The R&B singer, who has for years faced allegations of sexual abuse, was charged in Chicago on Friday morning, the Sun-Times reports. His first court date has been scheduled for March 8, the report adds.
Kelly was indicted in 2002 on child pornography charges in connection with a video that allegedly showed him sexually assaulting a minor, but he was ultimately acquitted. Recently, prosecutors reportedly examined a new video that attorney Michael Avenatti says shows Kelly abusing an underage girl. CNN viewed the tape and reported that it appeared to show Kelly abusing a girl, referencing her "14-year-old" genitalia. The New Yorker reported when news of that video came out that "an indictment is pending and Kelly could be arrested soon."
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Avenatti responded to the charges on Friday by writing, "After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R. Kelly has arrived." Kelly's history of alleged abuse was documented in the recent Lifetime series Surviving R. Kelly.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, prosecutors will sign an arrest warrant for Kelly on Friday afternoon.
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