R. Kelly was arrested in Chicago Thursday night (July 11) on federal sex trafficking charges, NBC 4 New York and the Chicago Sun-Times report. According to NBC, Kelly was arrested by Homeland Security Investigation agents and NYPD detectives, and it is expected that he will be brought to New York following the arrest.
The Sun-Times writes that, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, Kelly faces a 13-count indictment on charges related to child pornography and obstruction of justice. Pitchfork can confirm these charges via court documents. Former Kelly business manager Derrell McDavid and Kelly employee Milton Brown were also indicted, with prosecutors alleging the two assisted Kelly in recovering child pornography tapes and paying off victims to return said tapes.
Kelly is facing five additional federal charges in a separate indictment in the Eastern District of New York, The Associated Press reports and Pitchfork can confirm. The charges are for racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor, and the sexual exploitation of a child.
Kelly lawyer Steve Greenberg issued a statement about the arrest on July 12, writing that a bail hearing for Kelly will take place “early next week, at which time Mr. Kelly hopes to be released from custody.” Pitchfork can confirm that an arraignment for Kelly has been scheduled for July 16.
In 2019 alone, R. Kelly has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. In February, he was hit with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois. In May, Kelly was charged with an additional 11 counts of sexual assault and abuse. Four of the 11 charges were Class X felonies.
Kelly has a long history of alleged sexual abuse. He was previously charged with making child pornography in 2002, but was acquitted on all charges in 2008. Since his acquittal, Kelly has been accused of everything from holding women against their will in a sex cult, to physical and psychological abuse, to sexual abuse of minors.
Pitchfork has reached out to R. Kelly’s legal representation for comment.
This article was originally published on Friday, July 12 at 12:14 a.m. Eastern. It was last updated on July 12 at 1:33 p.m. Eastern.
https://pitchfork.com/news/r-kelly-arrested-on-federal-sex-crime-charges
