R Kelly charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse

Chicago prosecutors have charged R&B star R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, according to media reports citing court records. Photo / Supplied

Chicago prosecutors have charged R&B star R. Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, according to media reports citing court records.

Friday's charges come after years of allegations directed at Kelly, accusing the now 52-year-old of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls.

Through his lawyers, he has consistently denied them.

Kelly, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, is one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. He has won multiple Grammys, including for his hit-song, "I Believe I Can Fly."

Jurors acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges at a 2008 trial. Those charges stemmed from a video prosecutors alleged showed Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13.

Attorney Michael Avenatti said last week that he recently gave Chicago prosecutors new video evidence of Kelly having sex with an underage girl.

Avenatti says he has evidence R. Kelly and his "enablers" paid witnesses and others to "rig" the outcome of the R&B star's 2008 trial, when he was acquitted on child pornography charges.

Avenatti told the Associated Press that's one piece of information he'll present at a news conference in Chicago.

Kelly has denied allegations of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls for years.

His attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Avenatti said last week he gave the Cook County State's Attorney's office a videotape he says shows Kelly having sex with an underage girl.

On Thursday, two women said Kelly picked them out of a crowd at Baltimore after-party in the mid-1990s and had sex with one of them, who was 16.

- AP