R. Kelly Charged After Alleged Video Evidence of Singer Assaulting Underage Girl

R. Kelly was charged today with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois.

The Chicago Sun-Times confirmed the charges and reported that prosecutors sought an arrest warrant on this morning.

The R&B superstar has faced nearly two decades of accusations of sexual abuse. And last Thursday, Cook County prosecutors reportedly received a 45-minute videotape that is said to show Kelly performing multiple sex acts with an underage girl, whom both Kelly and the girl describe on tape as being 14 years old.

The abuse involved four victims, at least three of them minors, from 1998 to 2010.

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti said he turned over the tape to the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. “My client knows the identity of the girl and R. Kelly. He identified the two of them on the videotape,” Avenatti told CNN last week. “He worked for and has known R. Kelly for decades and he met the girl on a number of occasions.”

Kelly’s first court date is scheduled for March 8.

UPDATE:
Kelly  has surrendered to police at the Chicago Police Department.