R. Kelly has been charged by Minnesota authorities with two counts of prostitution and solicitation for an incident involving an underage girl that allegedly occurred in 2001.
On Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Kelly has been accused of soliciting a girl who was 17 at the time.
According to the criminal complaint, the girl, who has not been named, first met Kelly on July 11, 2001, when she approached the singer for his autograph outside of a Minneapolis venue. In addition to his signature, the singer (born Robert Kelly) allegedly also included a phone number.
After calling the number, the girl was invited to a hotel, where she met with the star and was offered “$200 to dance,” according to the complaint. Kelly then “helped her remove her clothing” and “took off his clothes as well.”
Afterward, she was given tickets for an 18+ concert, the complaint claims, adding that her testimony was also corroborated by her brother.
During Monday’s press conference, Freeman said “there was some talk” of the girl traveling to Chicago to see the singer, but she was not able to contact Kelly using the phone number he had provided her with, according to the Star Tribune.
Authorities in Minnesota first became aware of the alleged incident in January, when the woman contacted a law enforcement hotline, according to the criminal complaint.
“It is despicable that Mr. Kelly used his fame in order to prey on underage girls,” Freeman said in a news release. “While there are more numerous charges in the Illinois and federal cases, we wanted to make sure that our victim here in Minneapolis also receives a measure of justice. We fully expect that at some future date, Mr. Kelly will have to account for his actions in Hennepin County.”
The woman is being represented by Gloria Allred, who represents a number of Kelly’s accusers, according to the Associated Press.
“As this new case demonstrates, it is not too late for there to be justice for even more victims of R. Kelly,” Allred said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
Kelly, who is currently in custody in New York — where he pled not guilty to sex trafficking charges last week — has not publicly responded to the new charges, although his attorney Steve Greenberg has spoken out against them online.
“Re: New charges @RKelly give me a break. This is beyond absurd,” Greenberg tweeted on Monday.
Kelly pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of racketeering and violating federal laws prohibiting sex trafficking.
The court date came less than a month after the singer was arrested on federal charges including child pornography, racketeering and obstruction of justice — per two indictments out of Chicago and New York City.
The Chicago indictment also accused Kelly of using physical abuse, violence and blackmail to “prevent victims from providing evidence to law enforcement.”
In June, Kelly pleaded not guilty to 11 felony sexual abuse counts after he was charged by Cook County prosecutors in Chicago in May. The charges included five counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, and they stemmed from one accuser who claimed Kelly abused her in 2009 and 2010 when she was underage.
In February, he was also hit with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four alleged victims, three of which were referred to as under the age of 17. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Kelly, who was also the subject of the bombshell documentary Surviving R. Kelly earlier this year, has maintained his innocence throughout his legal troubles.
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