- R Kelly was denied bond on Tuesday at a bail hearing and entered a not guilty plea to charges in Illinois after being arraigned in federal court
- Three tapes show the singer raping a girl, 14, and then subjecting her to ‘sadomasochistic abuse’ prosecutors revealed in court
- Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull then made a point of stating: ‘There is no question that it is the defendant on these videos’
- The minor who refused to testify against Kelly at his 2008 trial has said under oath that it is her on the singer’s rape tape, and has five corroborating witnesses
- Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg tried to persuade the judge by claiming his client was a broke, family man and confirming the singer is in fact illiterate
- The singer, 52, will now be arraigned in a New York federal court some time between now and September 4 on the five charges he faces there
R Kelly will not be released from prison ahead of his federal court trials a judge ruled on Tuesday.
This comes after federal prosecutors revealed that they are in possession of three tapes which show the singer raping a girl, 14, and then subjecting her to ‘sadomasochistic abuse.’
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull then made a point of stating: ‘There is no question that it is the defendant on these videos.’
Kelly is seen in close-up and two of the tapes were filmed in rooms that are distinctly similar to ones in the singer’s former home.
The singer’s lawyer Steve Greenberg responded by presenting his client as a broke family man with an aversion to flying, and even confirmed that the singer is in fact ‘illiterate’ in his failed bid to convince the court that Kelly was not a flight risk.
‘Unlike his most famous song – I Believe I Can Fly – Mr. Kelly doesn’t like to fly,’ declared Greenberg at one point in the proceedings,
That dated, and arguably false, statement failed to convince Judge Leinenweber however, who denied the singer’s request for bond and then arraigned him on the indictment filed in Illinois last week.
Kelly entered a plea of not guilty. He faces 195 years in prison if convicted on the Illinois charges.
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Do not pass go: R Kelly (above in a sketch from court on Friday) was denied bond on Tuesday at a bail hearing and entered a not guilty plea to charges in Illinois after being arraigned in federal court
In court: Joycelyn Savage (second from left) and Azriel Clary (second from right) arrived in court on Tuesday to support Kelly (the attorney for the women Gloria Schmidt on left)
Things got off to a difficult start for Kelly on Tuesday, as prosecutors from the Northern District of Illinois confirmed that the minor female who was believed to be on the rape tape that resulted in Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial is now cooperating with authorities.
That young woman has now gone on the record prosecutors said on Tuesday, and there are five witnesses to corroborate her story.
She did not testify at that 2008 trial, and the refusal of both her and her family to speak with authorities was viewed as the reason for Kelly’s acquittal on child porn charges.
The tape from that trial is not one of the three that prosecutors have in their possession.
A lawyer for that victim did not respond to a request for comment.
‘He is an extreme danger to the community, especially to minor girls,’ argued Krull on Tuesday.
She was also prepared with an argument against an electronic monitor as well, stating that this would not restrict the singer from continuing to commit the crimes he stands accused of in that state.
‘The defendant can entice girls to his own doorstep,’ Krull told the judge.
‘He doesn’t have to leave his home to do that.’
Greenberg dismissed this later, stating: ‘There’s no evidence that he’s a risk to minors at all at this point.’
Kelly was not arraigned on the charges brought against him by federal prosecutors on New York on Tuesday, but that will happen some time before September 4.
It will likely be a video arraignment, or done by an Illinois judge.
Kelly was therefore taken to the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago after his arrest, and he will now spend the weekend at that facility ahead of his bail hearing on Tuesday in the 13-count Illinois indictment.
That complaint alleges that Kelly made four videos of himself raping an underage girl and later provided her family with money and gifts in order to buy their silence ahead of his 2008 trial in Cook County.
He is also accused of aggravated criminal abuse and sexual exploitation of a child in the indictment, with all charges stemming from his alleged assaults of five minor females.
A federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted the singer on five counts, including racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of individuals across state lines for prostitution or any other illegal sexual activity.
Kelly first appeared before the judge on Friday alongside his defense attorney and federal prosecutors for early talks regarding how the singer would spend the time between his bail hearing next Tuesday and his yet-to-be-scheduled bail hearing in a Brooklyn federal court.
In the end, that was not an issue.
His lawyer also argued on Tuesday that one of Kelly’s co-defendants in the Illinois case, the singer’s former manager Derrell McDavid, made his first appearance on Friday and was able to walk out of court after the judge agreed to release him on $500,000 bond.
Blue it: Kelly’s defense attorney Steve Greenberg (right) arrives at court on Tuesday
Detention Letter From Feder… by ChrisSpargo on Scribd
He was indicted by the grand jury on one count of conspiracy to receive child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography and one count of conspiracy to receive child pornography.
Milton Brown, the other defendant in the Illinois case, was indicted on a single count of conspiracy to receive child pornography.
Kelly has yet to comment on these 18 federal charges, but his lawyer said in a brief statement: ‘The conduct alleged appears to largely be the same as the conduct previously alleged against Mr. Kelly in his current state indictment and his former state charges that he was acquitted of.’
It was Homeland Security agents and officers with the New York Police Department who made the arrest, despite the fact that Kelly was in Chicago at the time.
The singer was out on bail at the time, having put up a $1 million bond after Cook County prosecutors indicted him on 21 charges related to sex crimes he allegedly committed against four women – three of whom were minors the time.
‘Today’s indictment by our federal law enforcement partners demonstrates the collaborative efforts of our criminal justice system. My office was pleased to work together to secure these charges and will continue to work with our colleagues in the pursuit of justice for all victims,’ said Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx in a statement on Friday,
‘And let us be clear: this is not just about surviving R. Kelly. For most victims, it’s about surviving a less famous abuser, a trusted adult, or a total stranger.’
These indictments come months after several victims spoke out against the singer on the Lifetime docu-series Surviving R Kelly, including: Kelly’s ex-wife Andrea, Asante McGee, Lisa Van Allen, Jerhonda Pace, Kitti Jones and Lizette Martinez.
Also featured in that series was Stephanie ‘Sparkle’ Edwards, a one-time Kelly protegee who told authorities in 2002 that that the girl the singer was allegedly seen raping on the charging tapes was her underage niece.
Edwards career never recovered after she made the decision to accuse Kelly and the testify against him at trial, and she remains estranged from most of her family.
But 17 years later, her sacrifice became federal prosecutors’ gain as all 13 charges in the Illinois indictment stem from that initial interview with law enforcement back in 2002.
The indictment also supports he claim that her family had been paid off by the singer.
Members of law enforcement and prosecutors have admitted that it was the docuseries that revived the long-dormant investigation into the singer’s alleged sex crimes.
Kelly and his former manager Derrel McDavid paid ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ to buy back the tapes that allegedly showed him raping minor victims.
McDavid is also named as a defendant in the Illinois indictment, as is another former employee, Milton Brown.
Minor 2, who appeared in one of the videos with Kelly and Minor 1, was paid $350,000 to return the tapes according to the indictment.
She was also required to submit to a polygraph test to confirm she had no tapes in her possession claims the indictment.
The total amount of money paid out to Minor 1 is not given in the indictment, which only states that she received payments over a 15 years period beginning in 2000, and that they were made on a monthly basis during the final two years.
Many of those payments would include the word ‘SETTLEMENT’ written in the subject line according to the indictment.
Kelly is also accused of sending the parents of Minor 1 on a trip abroad so that they could not cooperate with investigators after they began to first look into the case and purchasing a Yukon Denali for the minor victim.
In exchange for these gifts, the minor victim and her father agreed to lie to investigators according to the court filing.
The indictment unsealed on Friday in New York meanwhile lists 11 acts of racketeering in total, for offenses including kidnapping, forced labor, the sexual exploitation of a child and violations of the Mann Act.
Five Jane Does are referenced in the New York charging incidents.
The indictment accuses Kelly of using his fame and massive world tours to recruit women into his sex ring, with the help of some members of his staff.
The members of that ‘enterprise’ are alleged to have ‘traveled throughout the United States and abroad to perform at concert venues, to promote the R. Kelly brand and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity.’
None of the victims in the New York indictment are named, but the allegations are remarkably similar to those made by Faith Rodgers in her lawsuit against the singer, which has been filed in New York Supreme Court.
Rodgers said in her complaint, filed in May of last year, that she met Kelly backstage at a show in 2017, and a few months later his assistant flew her to New York for a concert.
‘Following his performance, Defendant, R. Kelly, bombarded Plaintiff’s hotel room and initiated unwanted sexual contact with Plaintiff,’ states the complaint.
‘Defendant disregarded specific statements made by Plaintiff that she was “not ready to have sex” with Defendant and initiated non-consensual oral and vaginal intercourse.’
Rodgers said that ‘after initiating non-permissive, painful and abusive sex,’ Kelly ‘immediately insulted and criticized plaintiff concerning her “lack of participation” and physical inadequacies.’
That encounter also left Rodgers with an STD she claims, stating in the suit that she had been tested prior to the encounter and was found to be negative.
‘Prior to initiating sexual contact, Defendant, R. Kelly, failed to advise Plaintiff that he had herpes an incurable sexually transmitted disease,’ reads the filing.
Rodgers stayed with Kelly for almost a year after that first encounter according to the complaint, and was allegedly forced to endure more abuse.
‘During the course of their, approximately one-year relationship, Defendant, R. Kelly, routinely engaged in intimidation, mental, verbal and sexual abuse, during and after sexual contact,’ claims the complaint.
‘Defendant’s conduct was designed to humiliate, embarrass, intimidate and shame Plaintiff.’
It goes on to say: ‘Defendant, R. Kelly, routinely recorded Plaintiff without her consent submitting to deviant and compromising sexual contact. Defendant, R. Kelly’s, sexual contact was, at times, forceful and initiated without consent and despite noted objections by Plaintiff.’
She also revealed in a press conference back in January that Kelly wrote a letter threatening to reveal intimate details of her sexual history if she did not drop her lawsuit against the singer.
DailyMail.com obtained the letter, which is signed by Kelly and states: ‘Please advise Ms. Rodgers, your client to abandon this heartless effort to try to destroy my musical legacy for selfish, personal enrichment. If she persists in court action she will be subjected to public opinion during the discovery process.’
That is when Kelly lists of the ways in which he plans to respond to the allegations.
‘For example, my law team is prepared to request the production of the medical test results proving the origin of her STD claim, as well as 10 personal male witnesses testifying under oath about her sex life in support of her claim and complete records of her text/face time message exchanges, which will be reviewed to match and be authenticated by the recipient to insure there are no omissions or deletions,’ states Kelly in the letter.
‘If Ms. Rodgers really cares about her own reputation she should cease her participation and association with the organizers of this negative campaign. Counter actions are in the developmental stages and due to be released soon.’
She claims the letter said Kelly would demand medical documentation of her claim that he gave her herpes, force her to turn over texts and social media posts, and have ’10 personal male witnesses testifying under oath about her sex life’.
The letter, which was not filed in court at that time, stated: ‘If Ms Rodgers really cares about her own reputation she should cease her participation and association with the organizers of this negative campaign.’
It has now been filed in court, offering proof of Rodgers’ claims at the press conference.
There is no other name on the document so it is unclear who might have assisted the singer in drafting the note, given the fact that he is reportedly illiterate.
Kelly, 52, was apprehended on Thursday night while outside his Chicago apartment.
