R. Kelly Charged With Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse

The R&B singer was charged in Cook County Friday morning and is anticipated to appear in bond court Saturday afternoon.

R. Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The R&B singer was charged on Friday in Cook County, Illinois, and prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for him later that afternoon. Kelly, 52, has repeatedly denied all accusations against him.

During a press conference, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Fox revealed they anticipate Kelly will appear in bond court Saturday afternoon. Foxx also revealed that the 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse allegedly involved four victims all under the age of 17.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents numerous alleged victims of Kelly, released the following statement in regard to Kelly's indictment:

"As I predicted yesterday, the wheels of justice are turning and now R. Kelly is required to face allegations against him in the criminal justice system.

Today he has been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and he will have to face his accusers and the evidence against him at trial.

This may not be the only prosecution of Mr. Kelly, because we are aware of other open investigations in other jurisdictions, but I am very glad that he has been indicated in Cook County and that this day has finally come for Mr. Kelly.

An arrest warrant has been issued. The days of running and hiding his victimization of women from the criminal justice system have now come to an end for R. Kelly."

ET has reached out to Kelly's rep and legal team for comment.

This news comes after high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti claimed last week that he had a new, nearly 45-minute video of Kelly engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl. The videotape was handed over to the State Attorney's Office in Chicago, where Kelly lives and has a music studio.

"It's over," Avenatti tweeted Friday. "After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R Kelly has arrived."

On Friday afternoon, Avenatti held a press conference in which he announced that he is currently representing six clients -- whom he described as two victims, two parents and two "whistleblowers" who have been in Kelly's inner circle "for the better part of 20 years” -- and offered more information about the reported video, in which he claims both Kelly and the alleged victim make repeated reference to her age. Avenatti also went into explicit detail about the alleged sex acts committed by Kelly on the tape, which he claims contains two separate scenes, shot within the singer's residence at the time. According to Avenatti, the tape was made in the late '90s and is "far superior" to the video evidence used in Kelly's 2008 trial, in which the singer was found not guilty on 14 counts of child pornography.

Kelly has been accused of multiple sexual abuse allegations and inappropriate encounters with girls and young women over the years, with even more women coming forward and renewed attention on the allegations with the release of Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly docu-series last month. He has denied all claims of misconduct.

According to CNN, what is on the aforementioned video obtained by Avenatti "mirrors some of the alleged acts for which Kelly was arrested in a child pornography case in 2002 when he was 35 and then acquitted six years later."

News broke earlier this month that Kelly is no longer working with Sony Music. His reported departure from Sony in January follows the #MuteRKelly movement, which included protests outside the Sony building and artists like Lady Gaga, John Legend, Chance the Rapper and more speaking out against his alleged behavior. 

Hear more in the video below.

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