This article is more than
5 year oldChicago prosecutors have charged R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, according to court records reviewed by several publications.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office has confirmed that charges have been filed but declined to say the specific number.
The Chicago Tribune reports the number of alleged victims was not immediately clear, but three of the indictments referred to a minor between the ages of 13 and 16. A county judge has also issued a warrant for Kelly’s arrest, the Tribute says, citing the records.
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx will be announcing the charges against Kelly, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, during a press briefing later on Friday afternoon.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a rep for Kelly and Chicago's Cook County for the court records.
The indictment comes amid reports reports that a grand jury had convened after a new sex tapeallegedly showed the R&B singer, 52, sexually assaulting an underage girl.
On Feb. 14, attorney Michael Avenatti turned over to Foxx's office a recovered VHS videotape allegedly showing Kelly "engaging in multiple sexual assaults of a girl underage." The tape led to reports that an indictment was imminent in Illinois.
Kelly was previously arrested in 2002 for his alleged involvement in a child pornography tape that featured similar sexual acts featured on the new recording. He was acquitted when the case went to trial six years later. Avenatti said the new tape is unconnected to Kelly's previous criminal matter.
On Friday as news broke of the Kelly charge, Avenatti wrote on Twitter, "After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R Kelly has arrived."
The development comes one day after two new accusers came forward with sexual misconduct allegations, adding their name to a growing list of women who have claimed the R&B singer sexually harassed or assaulted them, some when they were underage. The two women, Latresa Scaff and Rochelle Washington, were meeting with law enforcement about the investigation into Kelly, their attorney Gloria Allred said on Thursday.
Multiple women came forward with allegations of abuse in the explosive Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly when it debuted in January. Those claims, which included alleged sexual misconduct against several women who were underage at the time, gave rise to the #MuteRKelly movement and have stalled the singer's career.
Prosecutors in Chicago and Atlanta have been seeking information about Kelly since the accusations came to light in the docuseries. Foxx has previously said her office was inundated with calls after the doc premiered and urged the public to come forward with information about potential victims of the R&B singer.
Several accusers featured on the documentary have continued to speak out since the docuseries aired, with three women since coming forward with new claims.
Kelly has denied all allegations.
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