R. Kelly Arrested in Chicago on Federal Sex Crime Charges

R. Kelly, who already faces charges of sexual abuse, was arrested in Chicago on Thursday evening, on a 13-count federal grand jury indictment. The indictment includes charges of child porn, enticement of a minor, and obstruction of justice, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told the AP.

This arrest also comes after decades of reporting documenting Kelly’s history of abuse, which have revealed dozens of alleged victims, and five months after Kelly was arrested in Cook County in February on multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Kelly then pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

Kelly already faces state charges in Illinois. In February, Kelly was arrested for sexual abuse charges involving four alleged victims, three of whom were underage at the time of the alleged incidents. Prosecutors say the abuse occurred from 1998 to 2010. In May, Kelly was arrested for additional sexual abuse charges; the New York Times reported that “charging documents describe sex and oral sex with a minor ‘by the use of force or threat of force.”

Kelly is expected to appear in court in Chicago on Friday. CNN reports that Kelly also faces separate sex trafficking charges in New York, and that the Eastern District of New York will unseal a five-count indictment on Friday. A source speaking to CNN says Kelly will eventually have a court date in Brooklyn.

Various news reports say that Kelly was arrested while walking his dog. It’s a rather small, quiet image of Kelly, compared to the Kelly portrayed in the chilling Lifetime docu-series Surviving R. Kelly. Cook County’s State Attorney Kim Foxx told the AP that her office was flooded with calls about Kelly after the Surviving R. Kelly premiere.

Update, 11:42 a.m.:
Correction: this story has been updated to reflect that R Kelly pled not-guilty to charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault in February 2019.