R. Kelly Turned Himself In
“I Believe I Can Fly” singer and accused pedophile and alleged sex cult leader (all of that must look really odd on a résumé) R. Kelly turned himself into Chicago police last night. Kelly has been officially charged with 10 counts of “aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17,” according to The Associated Press. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Chicago, Jussie Smollett must have his head bowed in prayer to thank Jesus for taking a little bit of the glare off of him.
According to TMZ, the charges against Kelly, 52, are just as nasty as you imagined.
According to the criminal complaint, the allegations include oral and vaginal sex with a girl between the ages of 13 and 17 … and the allegations are extremely graphic.
The State Attorney gave a short statement.
In a brief appearance before reporters, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the 10 counts against the 52-year-old Grammy winner, whose real name is Robert Kelly. She said the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade. She did not comment on the charges or take questions.
Kelly showed up to a Chicago police station in a van with tinted windows around 8:15 last night. He reportedly ignored the press as he entered the building. He was held overnight and expected to make an appearance in bond court sometime today. (Although, the arrest warrant that was issued for him was supposedly a “no bail” one so we’ll see how that goes.)
Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg (that job must come with either soul-removal surgery or a lot of mind-erasing vodka) told reporters that one of the charges was related to the previous child pornography case against his client that R. slithered out from under in 2008.
“Double jeopardy should bar that case,” Greenberg said. “He won that case.”
Silver linings! Kelly has repeatedly denied the charges against him. His lawyer Greenberg says he’s an “innocent man.” (This dude’s cable package must not include Lifetime.)
Greenberg said he thinks prosecutors rushed to judgment Friday in charging Kelly, calling the singer “an innocent man.”
“Mr. Kelly is strong,” Greenberg added. “He’s got a lot of support and he’s going to be vindicated on all these charges.”
He also revealed that he’s all about earning his pay because he met with the DA’s office prior to the charges being filed to convince them not to do it.
Greenberg said he offered to sit down with prosecutors before charges were filed to discuss why the allegations were “baseless.” But they refused, he said.
“Unfortunately, they have succumbed to the court of public opinion, who’ve convicted him,” he said.
And if getting arrested on diddler charges wasn’t enough, TMZ is reporting that R. owes almost $200,000 in child support to his ex-wife!
A Cook County judge found R. Kelly in contempt earlier this month — according to docs obtained by TMZ — because he owes Drea Kelly $169,996 in support. The court says he was supposed to be paying her $20,833 per month as of January 2009 — but he’s obviously fallen off schedule in the last year.
Kelly’s been ordered to pay up by March 6 or he’ll be…double locked-up?
If he’s found guilty, he could face up to 70 years behind bars. It’s probably cold comfort to him but maybe all of this could inspire an additional chapter to the “Trapped in a Closet” epic entitled “Trapped in a Jail Cell”? Feel free to get the hook to yank me off stage by my neck for that one.
Pic: Cook County Sherrif’s Office