R. Kelly Officially Charged With 10 Counts Of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse

Charges have been filed against R. Kelly by the Cook County State’s Attorney. Find out what counts the singer’s been charged with here.

R. Kelly has officially been charged by the Cook County State’s Attorney with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse on Feb. 22, according to TMZ. This news comes a week after a grand jury met to review a sex tape showing a man who appears to be Kelly having sex with a minor that was submitted to authorities by Michael Avenatti. Over a dozen accusers reportedly came forward to testify to the grand jury, according to TMZ.

On Feb. 21, attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference where two women, Latresa Scaff, 40, and Rochelle Washington, 39, stepped forward with their own claims against Kelly, according to Variety. When they were 15 and 16 respectively, the two women claim to have attended an R. Kelly concert in Baltimore in 1995 where Kelly’s security picked them out of the crowd and invited them on-stage. They were later invited to an after-party, where they were offered alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, according to the statement read by Gloria Allred. They were also invited to a hotel room, where Kelly allegedly entered with a shirt and jeans on, but with his genitals exposed. After saying that he wanted to have sex with the two of them, Washington turned him down and hid in a bathroom. Scaff claims that he allegedly had sex with her.

We reported earlier how CNN reportedly saw the alleged sex tape handed over by Avenatti to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. At over 42 minutes long, the tape allegedly shows a man who appears to be Kelly engaging in sexual contact with an underage girl. Both the man in the video and the girl in question reportedly both refer to her genitals as 14 years old. Avenatti was given the tape by a client who he claims “knows the identity of the girl and R. Kelly.” While he’s been recently charged, R. Kelly has never been convicted of a crime. Steven Greenberg, Kelly’s lawyer, has said previously that Mr. Kelly “denies that he has engaged in any illegal conduct, of any kind whatsoever.”