R. Kelly was hit Thursday with 11 additional sexual abuse charges three months after prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, filed 10 similar counts against him in a wide-ranging investigation of the singer’s long-rumored misconduct.
The first eight counts stem from encounters that allegedly occurred in January 2010, and the three other counts are related to alleged encounters between May 2009 and January 2010, according to the filing.
Four of the counts are categorized as a Class X aggravated criminal sexual assault, a felony that carries a threat of six to 30 years behind bars. Two of the counts are for Class 1 criminal sexual assault by force, another two are for Class 2 aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and the last three are for Class 2 aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between the ages of 13 and 16.
According to the filing, the new charges stem from a single victim identified by the initials “J.P.” A victim with the same initials allegedly began having sexual contact with Kelly the year after she met him at his 2008 trial and is one of the four accusers in a February indictment against the singer. Prosecutors didn’t specify whether this victim is the same “J.P.”
Prosecutors accused Kelly in these new charges of using force or threatening to use force to pressure the victim into sex or to perform oral sex on him. The victim was underage at the time of the alleged incidents, according to the filing.
A representative of Cook County did not immediately return a request for comment. Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg told the Chicago Tribune that the new indictment basically alleges the same conduct with charges that carry harsher penalties and that he expects the new charges to supersede the previous indictment involving J.P.
Kelly has been accused of making sexual advances toward underage girls and young women for decades. In the mid-2000s, he faced criminal charges related to child pornography, for which he was acquitted.
The accusations gained renewed attention in January, when Lifetime debuted a six-part documentary series titled “Surviving R. Kelly” to lay out several accusations against him.
In February, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx formally brought charges stemming from the allegations of four women, three of whom were underage at the time, saying the incidents took place between 1998 and 2010.
Those charges are still pending. Cook County Associate Judge Lawrence Edward Flood has opted to allow cameras in the courtroom during the trial and pretrial hearings, a move Kelly applauded.
“Mr. Kelly wants this to be an open and transparent process,” his attorney Steve Greenberg said in March. “So far there have been rumors, there have been allegations … but with cameras in the courtroom, everyone will see what really happens.”
Weeks before, Greenberg’s client had shocked CBS viewers with an emotional interview with Gayle King, during which he stood up and raged against the sexual abuse charges while another man held him back.
Prosecutors in Chicago and Atlanta have both made calls for other potential victims to come forward.
Although Kelly initially struggled to come up with bond money following his February indictment, the singer is currently free after a suburban Chicago woman posted $100,000, or 10% of his bond. He’s due to appear next in court on June 6.
Read the Thursday court filing, uploaded by The Associated Press, below:
