R. Kelly has just been hit with even more criminal charges.
Authorities in Minnesota on Monday charged the R&B singer with two prostitution and solicitation charges, The Associated Press reports. This comes in connection with a 2001 incident in which Kelly allegedly paid an underage girl he met at a concert $200 to come back to his hotel room and take off her clothes.
Kelly was in February charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and in July was arrested on federal charges over his alleged abuse of underage girls. Kelly, who was recently denied bail in New York, has rejected the allegations, and his attorney on Monday called the new Minnesota charges "beyond absurd."
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Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman on Monday said that there was "sexual contact" between Kelly and the alleged victim, although he said that there wasn't "sexual intercourse," reports Fox 9's Paul Blume. "We're going to make sure that justice is done in Minnesota," he added.
Freeman also said in response to those who might say this is "piling on" after all of the other charges that Kelly has faced, "Frankly, Minnesota victims deserve their day in court and that’s why we’re here," Variety reports. "In my view, too many prosecutors are ignoring victims. This one doesn’t." He suggested it's possible that the case won't go to trial, but said that this "doesn’t disturb me whatsoever" provided that Kelly "spends time for the crimes he's committed elsewhere."
