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R. Kelly, who is charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, turned himself into Chicago Police on Friday night, Variety reported.
Police said Friday that the R&B singer was in custody, and that he would appear for a bond hearing on Saturday afternoon, according to the Chicago Tribune.
WATCH: R. Kelly charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse
His lawyer Steve Greenberg told the Associated Press that the singer maintains his innocence and looks forward to being acquitted at trial.
Greenberg initially tweeted that Kelly would turn himself in between 11 p.m. and midnight CT (midnight and 1 a.m. ET).
He described Kelly as being “shell-shocked” by the indictment filed against him in Chicago on Friday.
READ MORE: R. Kelly faces new allegations of sexual misconduct from 2 women
In a brief news conference Friday, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx outlined the charges against Kelly and said he was expected to appear at a bond hearing Saturday. The 52-year-old singer’s court date is listed as March 8.
Foxx clarified that the 10 counts involve four victims, and three of them were under the age of 17. At the end of the press conference Foxx took no questions.
WATCH BELOW: Authorities detail 10 counts of criminal sex abuse against R. Kelly
As per a press release read by Foxx, here are the specifics on each count:
- The first victim, initials HW, was involved in incidents which occurred between May 26, 1998, and May 25, 1999. A grand jury returned an indictment on four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse based on the victim being under the age of 17, and Kelly being more than five years older than the victim.
- The second victim, initials RL, was involved in an incident which occurred between Sept. 26, 1998, and Sept. 25, 2001. A grand jury returned an indictment on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse based on the victim being under the age of 17, and Kelly being more than five years older than that victim.
- The third victim, initials LC, was involved in an incident which occurred Feb. 18, 2003. A grand jury returned an indictment on one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse based on the transmission of semen by Kelly upon any part of the body of the victim for the purposes of sexual gratification during the course of an underlying felony of attempted criminal sexual assault.
- The fourth victim, initials JP, was involved in incidents which occurred between May 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010. The grand jury returned an indictment on three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse based on the victim being under the age of 17 and Kelly being more than five years older than the victim.
Kelly was charged a week after Michael Avenatti, the lawyer whose clients have included porn star Stormy Daniels, said he recently gave Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of the singer having sex with an underage girl.
Avenatti held a press conference after charges were announced, calling it a “watershed moment.” He said he is representing six people in relation to R. Kelly, including two alleged victims, two parents and two whistleblowers from Kelly’s circle.
WATCH BELOW: Avenatti ‘highly confident’ R. Kelly will be convicted on multiple counts
On Thursday, two women said that R. Kelly picked them out of a crowd at a Baltimore after-party in the mid-1990s when they were underage and had sex with one of the teens although she was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol and could not consent.
The women, Latresa Scaff and Rochelle Washington, joined lawyer Gloria Allred at a New York City news conference to tell their story publicly for the first time.
Their accusations come weeks after a Lifetime documentary series, Surviving R. Kelly, took a close look at old sexual misconduct allegations against the R&B star.
The Dream Hampton-produced exposé details the longtime controversy surrounding Kelly and his history of alleged sex crimes against a shocking number of young women.
WATCH BELOW: R. Kelly charged with several counts of aggravated sexual abuse
With more than 50 conducted interviews — including quotes from former collaborators and victims of Kelly’s alleged sex crimes — Hampton hoped to expose as many allegations of predatory tendencies and sexual misconduct levelled against the singer as she could.
Kelly has denied all of these allegations.
Scaff said she was 16 and Washington was 15 when the pair attended a concert and after-party featuring Kelly and LL Cool J in Baltimore.
READ MORE: Sex tape allegedly showing R. Kelly and underage girl turned over to Chicago authorities
WATCH BELOW: R. Kelly faces new allegations of sexual misconduct from 2 women
Scaff said Kelly singled the girls out at the after-party, had a member of his entourage ply them with drugs and alcohol and told them to meet him at his hotel suite.
“We both went to the hotel, thinking there was going to be another party there,” Scaff said.
Scaff said the two girls were in Kelly’s hotel room when Kelly entered with his penis already outside of his jeans. She said he wanted a threesome with the two teens but Washington said no and escaped to the bathroom.
READ MORE: R. Kelly international tour in doubt after Australian lawmaker wants singer banned
With Washington in the bathroom, Kelly asked Scaff for oral sex and then had intercourse with her although she was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol and “did not have the capacity to consent,” she said.
WATCH BELOW: R. Kelly accuser says she wanted to ‘speak her truth’
Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, has said his client never knowingly had sex with an underage woman.
Kelly, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, has faced allegations of sexual misconduct with underage girls for decades and has denied them.
He was acquitted in 2008 of child pornography charges stemming from a sex tape he allegedly made with an underage girl.
READ MORE: Dave Chappelle says R. Kelly wanted to fight him after ‘golden shower’ skit
Kelly broke into the R&B scene in 1993 with his first solo album, 12 Play, which produced such popular sex-themed songs as Bump N’ Grind and Your Body’s Callin’.
Months after those successes, the then-27-year-old Kelly faced allegations he married 15-year-old Aaliyah, the R&B star who later died in a plane crash in the Bahamas. Kelly was the lead songwriter and producer of Aaliyah’s 1994 debut album.
Kelly and Aaliyah never confirmed the marriage, though Vibe magazine published a copy of the purported marriage license. Court documents later obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed Aaliyah admitted lying about her age on the license.
Jim DeRogatis, a longtime music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, played a key role in drawing the attention of law enforcement to Kelly. In 2002, he received the sex tape in the mail that was central to Kelly’s 2008 trial. He turned it over to prosecutors. In 2017, DeRogatis wrote a story for BuzzFeed about the allegations Kelly was holding women against their will in Georgia.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
—With files from the Associated Press and Kerri Breen
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