R Kelly Pleads Not Guilty To All Charges Against Him

Chicago Police Department/R Kelly/Instagram

R Kelly pleaded not guilty earlier this morning (February 25) to all charges against him.

The 52-year-old singer – whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly – was indicted and booked on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse at Chicago’s Leighton Criminal Court Building on Saturday (February 23).

These alleged offences are said to have been committed against four women between the years 1998 and 2010, with three of the women being under the age of 17 when the alleged assaults took place.

As reported by Rolling Stone, Kelly – who had spent three nights in prison – was arraigned on the 10 counts, with the singer’s lawyer pleading not guilty on all counts on behalf of Kelly.

The singer’s list of charges has been released by Matt Masterson, a reporter for WTTW who attended the trial and had access to the state proffer against Kelly.

Masterson posted a tweet of the charges against the singer, which detailed the four separate indictments for each alleged victim.

You can take a look at the pictures below:

One of the proffers states Kelly met one of his alleged underage victims outside court during the singer’s last criminal trial in 2008, when he signed an autograph for her.

After telling Kelly how old she was, the then-41-year-old invited her to his house; between May 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010, the proffer states the victim had vaginal and oral sex with the singer multiple times.

The proffer reads:

At times, Robert Kelly would spit on her, slap her in the face and choke her. The victim saved one of the shirts she was wearing when Robert Kelly ejaculated on her and gave that shirt to the Olympia Fields Police Department.

Chicago Police Department

The court documents also describe how another one of the alleged victims was a hairdresser for Kelly when he caught her alone one time and said he wanted his head massaged. As he said this, Kelly reportedly had his pants pulled down and was pointing to his penis.

The document reads:

Robert Kelly grabbed the victim by the head and tried to force her mouth onto his exposed penis but the victim was able to resist. Robert Kelly then masturbated and ejaculated onto the victim and spit in her face several times.

The other two victims were under the age of 17 at the time of their alleged sexual abuse, with the court documents stating one was just 14 when a videotape emerged of Kelly having sexual intercourse with her. The other met Kelly on her 16th birthday, the proffer states, and made the singer aware of her age.

After today’s arraignment, Michael Avenatti – who represents at least one of the alleged victims – held a press conference where he announced that he handed over a VHS tape to prosecutors which allegedly depicts Kelly with one of the victims.

During the press conference, it remained unclear whether this tape would result in additional charges against the singer.

The attorney tweeted:

I can confirm that we will be providing a second video showing R. Kelly engaged in sexual assault of a minor to prosecutors this morning. This tape was recently uncovered in connection with our ongoing nationwide investigation on behalf of victims. Justice must be done.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 (12-2:30 and 7-9:30). Alternatively you can contact Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111.

Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on its website or on its helpline – 0808 800 5005.

If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected].

Lucy Connolly

A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).