The Latest: Avenatti: Notion Victims Are Lying ‘Outrageous’
Feb 23, 2019, 9:06 PM | Updated: Jun 8, 2022, 5:15 pm
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Rochelle Washington, Latresa Scaff and attorney Gloria Allred speak at the press conference as two new accusers of R. Kelly misconduct come forward at Lotte New York Palace on February 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
(Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the sexual abuse case against R&B singer R. Kelly (all times local):
3 p.m.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti says it’s “outrageous” that R. Kelly’s attorney questions whether the singer’s accusers are telling the truth about being sexually abused by the R&B singer.
Avenatti, who says he represents two Kelly victims and gave prosecutors new video evidence of Kelly having sex with an underage girl, said Saturday that, “We’re going to do everything in our power … to make sure 2019 is not a repeat of 2008.”
He was referring to Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial, in which the singer was acquitted.
Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said Saturday after a judge set Kelly’s bond at $1 million that Kelly “is a rock star.
He doesn’t have to have nonconsensual sex.”
Referring to the #MeToo movement, Greenberg said, “Unfortunately, there’s this whole hashtag movement. Just because someone says something now … it doesn’t make them credible.”
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2 p.m.
R. Kelly’s lawyer rejects the allegations that the R&B singer sexually abused anyone, telling reporters: “He is a rock star. He doesn’t have to have nonconsensual sex.”
Greenberg made the comments Saturday after a judge set a $1 million bond for Kelly, who was booked Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four females, including three who were underage at the time.
Greenberg says he’s happy with the bond amount, but Kelly doesn’t have much money because he says mismanagement by others put the singer in financial straits.
He says Kelly is trying to get the bond money together and hopes to get out of jail later Saturday.
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1:40 p.m.
The lawyer for R. Kelly says any sexual contact between the R&B singer and the four people he’s charged with sexually abusing might have been consensual..
Steve Greenberg made the comment to reporters Saturday after a judge set Kelly’s bond at $1 million. But he says he hasn’t seen any evidence yet.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
Kelly was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct. The 52-year-old Grammy winner’s lawyer said Friday that he’s confident Kelly will be vindicated.
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1:20 p.m.
A prosecutor told the judge at R. Kelly’s bond hearing in Chicago that the singer met one of the four people he’s charged with sexually abusing during his 2008 child pornography trial.
The prosecutor says the two met when he gave her an autograph, and that she was underage at the time.
Kelly was acquitted at that trial, which stemmed from a video purported to show him having sex with an underage girl as young as 13.
The prosecutor says Kelly sexually abused the girl he met during the trial between 2009 and 2010.
Kelly was booked Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four female victims, including three who were between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
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1:10 p.m.
A judge has set R&B singer R. Kelly’s bond at $1 million.
Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. said during Saturday’s hearing in Chicago that the amount equals $250,000 for each of the four people he’s charged with sexually abusing.
Lyke called the allegations against Kelly “disturbing” during the hearing. The singer stared at the floor while the judge was speaking and looked dejected.
Kelly was booked Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four female victims, including three who were between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
Kelly was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct. The 52-year-old Grammy winner’s lawyer said Friday that he’s confident Kelly will be vindicated.
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1:05 p.m.
R. Kelly’s lawyer has asked a judge to release the R&B singer on bond.
Attorney Steve Greenberg told Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. during Saturday’s bonding hearing that, “Contrary to the song, Mr. Kelly doesn’t like to fly,” in reference to the Grammy-award winner’s hit “I believe I can fly.”
The judge called the allegations against Kelly “disturbing” as the singer stared at the floor looking dejected.
Kelly was booked Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four female victims, including three who were between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
Kelly was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct. The 52-year-old Grammy winner’s lawyer said Friday that he’s confident Kelly will be vindicated.
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12:50 p.m.
R. Kelly has arrived at a Chicago court hearing where a judge will decide bond in the sexual abuse case against the R&B singer.
The judge at Saturday’s hearing, Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., is the same judge who presided over “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s bond hearing earlier this week.
Kelly was booked Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four female victims, including three who were between the ages of 13 and 17 at the time. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade.
Kelly was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct. The 52-year-old Grammy winner’s lawyer said Friday that he’s confident Kelly will be vindicated.
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12:05 a.m.
R&B singer R. Kelly is expected to appear in a Chicago court one day after being arrested and charged with aggravated sexual abuse.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced 10 counts Friday against the Grammy winner. She said the abuse dated back as far as 1998 and spanned more than a decade. The charges involved four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
Chicago police say Kelly was taken into custody after the 52-year-old singer surrendered Friday night. He was scheduled to be arraigned Saturday.
Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct, but he has been dogged for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves.
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Check out the AP’s complete coverage of the investigations into R. Kelly.
