Embattled singer R. Kelly was hit with new allegations in Chicago on Friday in a federal indictment that says he allegedly abused a young girl for four years, starting in 1997.
Kelly, 53, was originally charged in a 13-count federal indictment in July with conspiring with two former employees to rig his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by paying witnesses and victims to change their allegations. According to a superseding indictment made public Friday, Kelly allegedly sexually abused a fifth girl, only identified “Minor 6,” when she “was approximately 14 or 15 years old.” The indictment also removed a person, previously identified as “Minor 2,” from the list of victims and instead named her “Individual D.” Prosecutors previously alleged the young girl met Kelly in 1997, when she was about 17.
The new allegations also seek forfeiture of all assets of Kelly’s production company, Bass Productions, Ltd., as well as a company owned by his longtime business manager, former manager, and co-defendant, Derrel McDavid. Prosecutors allege McDavid paid off a former employee to record child sex tapes before they were retrieved by prosecutors. The R&B singer is charged in four separate cases, all alleging he sexually abused girls and young women going back several decades. “We are aware of the superseding indictment. We continue to fight for him and look forward to the day he is free,” Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said in a Friday tweet.
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