R. Kelly charged with soliciting 17-year-old girl in Minnesota
R. Kelly, the 52-year-old singer, has been charged with prostitution and solicitation in Minnesota after allegedly inviting a 17-year-old girl to his hotel room and paying her $200 to dance naked with him in 2001. Each felony charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.
A Minnesota prosecutor has charged R. Kelly with prostitution and solicitation charges for a 2001 allegation that he invited a 17-year-old girl to his hotel and paid her $200 to dance naked with him.
On Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is accused of soliciting the girl after meeting her before a concert in Minneapolis.
Freeman said the girl was trying to get an autograph from Kelly, and that the R&B performer gave her his signature and a phone number. When the girl called the number, she was invited to Kelly's hotel. There she was offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance, Freeman said. He said Kelly took his clothes off and they danced together.
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A criminal complaint said the girl said Kelly lay on his bed and the girl climbed on top of him "body to body."
"According to Victim, the defendant was rubbing her body" and fondling himself, according to the complaint. "Victim stated that the defendant touched all over her body."
The complaint said the girl attended Kelly's concert "as a guest who did not have to pay," and told her brother what had happened in Kelly's hotel room.
According to Variety, Freeman said that the victim was under 18 but at least 16 years old at the time and the incident involved “dancing and sexual contact.” He added that there was no sexual intercourse between Kelly and the victim.
The charges are felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison. Freeman said his office investigated after getting a tip from a Chicago tip line.
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"We felt we had more than enough to charge based on her testimony and corroboration from her brother," Freeman -- who did not provide a name for the alleged victim in Minneapolis -- said.
In a statement to Fox News on Monday, Kelly's attorney Steve Greenberg, said: "That case is a pure publicity grab by the prosecutor." Greenberg also tweeted: "Give me a break. This is beyond absurd."
Another one of Kelly's attorney, Douglas Anton, also said in a statement to Fox News: "Frankly I don’t understand where the criminal activity exists in this matter. But I believe this highlights what has now become the absurdity of The bulk of the charges against our client.
"When a top law-enforcement figure makes a public cry for the world to come and be famous by telling their sordid story, true or not, it inherently invites people to create revisionist history and put a different label on simple fan rockstar encounters," he added.
Anton said that "we have no idea who this alleged victim is going to be nor if Robert ever met with her in any capacity in his entire Life.
"All we know is that yet another person has come forward either by their own desire or by being dragged in to the fray by prosecutors looking to make a name for themselves."
Gloria Allred, the attorney for several of Kelly's accusers, said she represents the newest woman to come forward. She commended the woman "for the courage she displayed in speaking to law enforcement.
"As this new case demonstrates, it is not too late for there to be justice for even more victims of R. Kelly," Allred -- who added she will not name the woman -- said in a statement.
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Allred said her client is not a prostitute. She told a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday that she was told the prostitution statute was the only one available to Minnesota authorities to charge Kelly in this case.
The charges are the latest legal problem for the 52-year-old singer, who remains jailed in New York after pleading not guilty last week in federal court to charges that he sexually abused women and girls who attended his concerts there. He is accused of using his fame to recruit young women and girls into illegal sexual activity.
Kelly is also charged separately in Chicago with engaging in child pornography.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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