R. Kelly, in jail and already facing federal charges in New York court and state charges in Illinois and Minnesota, now faces a new indictment, filed on February 13 in Illinois federal court, according to Pitchfork. The indictment supersedes the original from last July, which charged Kelly with child pornography, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice. The new allegations state that Kelly enticed a minor, identified as “Minor 6,” “to engage in sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, namely, aggravated criminal sexual abuse,” between 1997 and 2000, beginning when the alleged victim was 14 or 15 years old. The new indictment also appears to remove from the list of alleged victims the 17-year-old victim identified as “Minor 2,” now “Individual D,” who had played a central role in the allegations of pay-offs during Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial.
In another significant change from the previous indictment, the prosecution now seeks for the first time the forfeiture of all assets of Kelly’s production company, Bass Productions Ltd., as well as those of a company owned by his co-defendant and longtime business manager, Derrel McDavid, according to the Chicago Tribune.
This news comes after Kelly missed a court date in January due to hernia surgery, according to TMZ. Furthermore, as of February, Kelly’s former girlfriend and defender Azriel Clary is now cooperating with federal investigators and speaking out against Kelly, TMZ reports. Clary left Kelly in December of 2019, and allegedly “lied to federal agents several times in the past to cover for Kelly.”
These new developments will most likely push back Kelly’s scheduled trial date of April 27, for federal charges.
