R. Kelly Charged With 11 New Counts Of Sexual Assault

Singer R. Kelly has been charged with 11 new sex-related counts involving one victim, the Associated Press reports.

According to the charges, the alleged offences happened in January 2010.

Court papers seen by the The Chicago Sun Times reveal he has been charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault by force, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between the ages of 13 to 16.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that the charges carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, and that they are the most serious R. Kelly has faced yet.

Attorney Steve Greenburg said: "We'll see what the charges are, and we'll proceed accordingly. I know this much: it's old. They're allegations from years ago."

The 52-year-old star - whose real name is Robert Kelly - was charged with 10 counts of aggravated abuse back in February, facing allegations of assault against three underage girls and one adult woman between 1998 and 2010.

Greenberg previously told the Associated Press that his client was 'extraordinarily disappointed and depressed' by the charges and maintains his innocence.

He told CNN: "I think all the women are lying. Mr Kelly is strong, he's got a lot of support and he's going to be vindicated on all these charges - one by one if it has to be."

The allegations followed the release of six-part docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which explored the sexual abuse allegations against the 'Ignition (Remix)' singer.

Shortly after the programme aired on American TV, Kelly was dropped by his record label.

CBS

In an interview with CBS reporter Gayle King, R. Kelly became emotional and broke down in tears as they discussed allegations from his past - referring to when he was indicted in 2002 on 13 counts of child pornography before being acquitted in 2008.

R. Kelly said: "I'll sit here and say this, I had two cases back then that I said at the beginning of the interview that I would not talk about because of my ongoing case now.

"But I will tell you this: people are going back to my past and they're trying to add all of this stuff now to that, to make all of the stuff that's going on now feel real to people."

Topics: Celebrity, Music, US News

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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