R8B Superstar R.Kelly surrendered to Chicago Police on Friday night, reports said, as he is due to be docked today for criminal sex abuse of minors.
The musician faces a criminal charge of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
A videotape reportedly showing the singer having sex with an underage girl has been handed over to the police by attorney Michael Avenatti, who is also the lawyer to porn star, Stormy Daniels, in legal tangle with President Donald Trump.
Kelly, 52, was charged in a 10-count Cook County Circuit Court indictment handed down two months after the debut of a six-hour documentary series on the Lifetime television network in which multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse.
His attorney Steven Greenberg told Reuters in an interview in January the Lifetime series was a “complete fabrication” and that there was no evidence to support the allegations against his client.
At a news conference on Friday after the charges were detailed in a court filing, the Cook County state’s attorney, Kimberly Foxx, said three of the four victims Kelly is accused of sexually abusing between 1998 and 2010 were under age 17 at the time of the assaults.
Kelly, was expected to appear at a bond hearing on Saturday afternoon, Foxx said. The entertainer faces a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison if convicted.
Attorney Michael Avenatti told a separate news conference he has been retained by two people who he said were victims, as well as two parents and two “whistleblowers” from Kelly’s inner circle.
Avenatti said his firm had uncovered a 40-minute videotape shot in the late 1990s allegedly showing Kelly performing sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl.
Avenatti said he had given the tape to prosecutors.