R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 11 new sexual assault and abuse charges.
The ‘Ignition’ hitmaker was hit with the new charges last week as reported by The Sauce, which related to sexual assault and other sex abuse crimes – with some of the felonies allegedly carrying a potential sentence of up to 30 years in jail – and after a court hearing on Thursday (06.06.19), he’s insisted he’s innocent.
Kelly appeared in court in Cook County, Chicago, and in a video shared from within the courtroom by TMZ, a judge can be seen listing the charges against him.
The judge said: “You were charged with three counts of aggravated sexual abuse, which is a class two felony. The alleged victim, in this case, is a victim alleged to be ‘J.R.’ … I’m sorry, ‘J.P.’
“The state went back to the grand jury, on this case only, and the grand jury returned a new indictment against you. The new indictment alleges additional counts against you, and that’s why you’re here today. I need to arraign you on that new indictment. On that case only, you understand?
“Counts one through five are aggravated criminal sexual assault, which is Class X felonies. You’re also charged with criminal sexual assault, which is a Class One felony, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which is a Class Two felony.”
A Class X felony is the most serious felony offense in the state of Illinois, with the only crime considered worse being first-degree murder.
Kelly has entered a plea of not guilty to all 11 new charges, which come after he was previously faced with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse when four women accused him of sexually abusing them, three of whom claim they were underage at the time of the alleged incidents.
The rapper will appear in court again for the new charges on June 26.
R. Kelly’s legal woes began when the ‘Surviving R.Kelly’ exposé docu-series aired on January 3rd, 2019. According to a previous report by The Sauce, R. Kelly’s lawyer has handed a $62,000 cheque to his ex-wife to bring his child support payments up to date. The 52-year-old singer spent a short spell in Cook County Jail in March for failing to pay more than $161,000 child support to his ex-wife Andrea Lee, but he was released days later, and payment has was made days later (08.05.19).
