On Wednesday, several witnesses stood before a federal grand jury to detail their alleged sexual relationships with R. Kelly. During the hearing, the singer’s accusers claimed Kelly and his team organized travel arrangements for underage girls to travel across state lines for sex and reportedly paid off witnesses in his 2008 trial, for which he was acquitted.
But now, just one day later, the Illinois grand jury has indicted the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B on 11 new charges, including four felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, according to court documents obtained by CNN. However, despite the additional charges, Kelly has maintained his innocence.
“He still maintains his innocence and denies all accusations brought against him by (the alleged victim) in any state moving forward,” Kelly’s crisis manager said after the charges. “He looks forward to a swift and speedy trial.”
According to the publication, Kelly has been recharged in his sexual abuse case, in which he was previously slapped with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, for four victims. However, the recharge was only pertained to one alleged victim, with additional charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual assault.
But, according to Kelly’s attorney, the new charges and indictment “changes nothing.”
“These are the same conduct, just charged differently, same alleged victim, same time frame, same facts, We expect the same results,” Steve Greenberg said.
Kelly is expected to return to court on June 6.
