R. Kelly will be brought to New York City next month to face racketeering charges, according to the Chicago Tribune.
He’s also being accused of seeking out young girls at his concerts in various parts of the United States. He’s currently being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and will be brought by U.S. marshals to Brooklyn for an August 2 hearing.
The singer was arrested on July 11 in Chicago by Homeland Security and detectives from the New York Police Department. Besides racketeering, he’s also been charged with sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping and forced labor in New York.
In an 18-page indictment, it says that Kelly used his bodyguard, manager and others to seek out girls during concerts, and certain individuals received wristbands, which gave them access to the backstage area, as well as the singer.
If he wanted to see a girl again, it’s alleged that his entourage would get her contact information for the future.
One of Kelly’s employees, Milton “June” Brown was also arrested and on Friday pleaded not guilty in Chicago to conspiracy to receive child pornography.
In a 13-count indictment, Brown was also accused of paying off witnesses in Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial, where the singer was acquitted. It was said that Brown, as well as Kelly and his former manager Derrel McDavis, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to retrieve tapes that allegedly showed minors being sexually abused.
A judge released Brown on his own recognizance after he pleaded not guilty, and McDavis pleaded not guilty as well.
As for Kelly, he’ll be brought back to Chicago after his arraignment for a status hearing on Sept. 4 in relation to other charges dealing with alleged sex crimes.
“We’re talking seventh and eighth-grade girls,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull last week in a Chicago hearing. “And it didn’t happen once or twice. He sexually abused them hundreds of times before they turned 18.”
In that same hearing, where Kelly pleaded not guilty to charges that include child pornography and obstruction of justice, the 52-year-old was denied bond and ordered to remain behind bars. This was after Krull said he’s still a danger to young girls and a flight risk.
On top of the federal indictments in Chicago and New York, Kelly faces 21 counts of state charges in Chicago that involve sexual abuse, as well as felony sexual misconduct.
