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R.Kelly has been charged with criminal sexual abuse, according to multiple reports.
According to US reports, the singer was charged in Cook County on Friday morning, and his first court date will be on March 8.
Sources went on to tell The Chicago Sun that prosecutors for Cook County will be appearing before a judge later on Friday to try and obtain a signature for an arrest warrant for Kelly.
Two sources also told CNN that Kelly had been indicted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
CBS Chicago went on to report that while one count did not specify the age of the victim, nine counts specified the victim was between the ages of 13 and 16. The outlet reports that all of the charges are Class 2 felonies and that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office will be holding a press conference on Friday afternoon addressing the charges brought against the singer.
Following the news, lawyer Michael Avenatti, who previously claimed earlier this month to have supplied police with a tape allegedly showing Kelly having sex with an underage girl, tweeted, “it’s over.”
“After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R Kelly has arrived,” he added.
The explicit video reportedly shows a man “who appears to be R. Kelly” and a girl having sex as they make mention of her “14-year-old” genitalia six different times, according to CNN.
The man also allegedly asks the girl to urinate on him, and she obliges.
Avenatti, who also represents Stormy Daniels — an adult film star who has claimed she had an affair with President Donald Trump, which he denies — said in a statement that he took on “multiple” clients with connections to Kelly, 52, last April, and has been poring through documents and evidence in the months since.
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