On Monday in Minneapolis, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Kelly is being with charged with two felony counts of prostitution and solicitation involving a girl under 18. Kelly is accused of soliciting the girl after meeting her at a concert in 2001 in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Illinois and New York are at the ready. The 52-year-old singer is accused of multiple sex crimes, including sexual abuse of underage girls, sex-trafficking, racketeering, production and possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice, and transportation of women and girls across state lines for the purposes of illegal sexual activity.
The latest charges: R. Kelly facing sex crimes charges in Minnesota
He’s pleaded not guilty to all the charges filed up until Monday. His lawyers have already indicated at least one of their defense strategies will be to depict him as a victim of accusers who have “groupie remorse.”
Gloria Allred, the attorney who represents multiple Kelly accusers, including the accuser in the Minnesota case and other #MeToo movement accusers, held a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday, accompanied by one of her clients, to attack Kelly’s lawyers for their “insulting and inaccurate” tactics.
“Many victims of Mr. Kelly were under age and, as a matter of law, cannot consent to sexual abuse by Mr. Kelly or anyone else,” Allred told reporters. “To suggest that they did consent or have consented … is extremely upsetting to many victims who were vulnerable and were clearly victims of a predator and his enablers.”