Charged with thirteen new charges, R. Kelly was arrested Thursday (July 11th) in Chicago. He pleaded not guilty and asked to be released on bail. A rejected application.
For more than twenty years, R. Kelly has been the subject of numerous accusations, involving acts of sexual assault and the misappropriation of minors. Charges for which he has never been convicted . In 2008, in particular, he was acquitted after a trial for recording sex videos with a 14-year-old girl. In February 2019, he had been charged with ten counts of sexual abuse, including five aggravated assaults. Robert S. Kelly, his real name, had pleaded not guilty and was released after paying a deposit of $ 100,000 .
But this time, R. Kelly should not be out of jail anytime soon . On Thursday, July 11, he was arrested in Chicago , charged with thirteen counts, including child pornography, embezzlement of minors and obstruction of justice. An arrest that would result from the many testimonies of his close collaborators and several videos showing the singer in full relationship with minor girls . After pleading not guilty to these new federal charges, he asked to be released on bail . A request rejected Tuesday, July 16: R. Kelly remains in prison, reports AFP.
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The Chicago Attorney’s Office has pleaded a high risk of absconding and possible disruption to the investigation of R. Kelly’s release. The 52-year-old was indicted for pushing, with the complicity of his manager, one of the alleged victims to produce false testimony in another procedure. The federal judge in charge of the case, Harry Leinenweber, has ordered the continued detention until September 4 , date of the next hearing. Steve Greenberg, who defends R. Kelly, said his client was “inevitably disappointed” and added that the detention was “grossly inhuman” .