Federal agents swooped down and arrested R. Kelly on Thursday night, charging the signer with 13 counts including enticement of a minor, child pornography, and obstruction of justice.
The charges are from two separate federal indictments filed in Chicago, IL and Brooklyn, NY. Agents from Homeland Security and members of the NYPD’s Public Safety Task Force initiated the arrest. Kelly, 52, is expected to appear before a federal judge on Friday.
The federal arrest was not a surprise to Kelly, according to his crisis manager, Darrell Johnson. According to Johnson, Kelly’s legal team had anticipated the arrest, and maintains the singer’s innocence, “Mr. Kelly has declared his innocence from day one. I’ve seen nothing, and I do mean nothing, that would lead to any type of guilt.”
Thursday’s arrest comes five months after Kelly was bailed out of jail following an arrest in Illinois on sexual abuse charges. With this latest arrest, Kelly now faces three criminal cases in connection to allegations of sexual abuse of under-aged women. Kelly is also fighting a civil case brought against him by some of his accusers.
Allegations of sexual behavior with minors has dogged Kelly for decades. In 2008 he stood trial on child pornography charges after a leaked videotape featured a man alleged to be Kelly, having sex with, and peeing on, a 13-year-old girl. He was acquitted in that case.
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