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Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday detailed a string of new accusations of sexual assault and bribery against R. Kelly going back 30 years, including abuse of a teenage boy.
In a lengthy court filing, prosecutors asked a judge to admit evidence of the allegations at the disgraced R&B singer's upcoming sex-trafficking trial in Brooklyn.
The uncharged acts are "directly relevant to and inextricably intertwined with the evidence of the charged crimes," prosecutors argued in the motion.
The filing alleges that in 2006 Kelly sexually abused a 17-year-old boy, identified only as John Doe #1, after meeting him at a McDonalds in Chicago and asking "what he was willing to do to succeed in the music business."
JUDGE ALLOWS R. KELLY TO SHAKE UP LEGAL TEAM AHEAD OF TRIAL
Federal prosecutors detailed new accusations of sexual assault and bribery against R. Kelly. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
According to court documents, the boy introduced Kelly to a close male pal who was 16 or 17. Several years later, Kelly allegedly started a sexual relationship with that person, John Doe #2, and forced several of his girlfriends at the time to have sex with the teen while he filmed.
The documents also describe how a "crisis manager" for Kelly allegedly bribed a Cook County, Illinois, clerk with $2,500 to get inside information on the singer’s legal troubles after the Lifetime documentary "Surviving R. Kelly" came out in early 2019.
Prosecutors also want to introduce evidence that Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, allegedly sexually abused the singer Aaliyah Haughton and married her in 1994 when she was 15 so that she couldn’t be forced to testify against him, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She died in a plane crash in 2001.
Other allegations contained in the filing include unlawful imprisonment, hush money payments, threats and psychological abuse.
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Prosecutors said that a woman named as Jane Doe #5, who is expected to testify, alleged that Kelly directed her to search the internet and find "child pornography involving boys for him." A search authorized on Kelly’s computer corroborated this claim, according to the court documents.
The R&B singer's trial date is set for Aug. 18. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky)
Prosecutors also want to play for the jury two audio recordings allegedly showing Kelly physically and psychologically abusing women, proving his "regular use of audio and video recordings to maintain control."
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Kelly is accused of leading an entourage of employees who recruited women and girls to have sex with the singer as he toured the country and the globe during his years as a R&B star.
He was arrested by the NYPD and federal authorities in Chicago in 2019 and transferred to New York in late June. He faces two sets of federal charges in New York and Chicago.
Kelly briefly appeared in court in Brooklyn earlier this month for a hearing, where he was seen in a mask and untucked shirt before a judge.
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Judge Ann Donnelly set Kelly’s trial for Aug. 18, so he could review materials with his defense team, which he retained in June.
Kelly has remained behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after the judge denied his attorney’s request for bail.
He maintains his innocence.
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