R. Kelly Denied Release on Bond in Federal Sex Crimes Case

R. Kelly has been denied release on bond after his arrest in Chicago on Thursday, July 11 on federal sex trafficking charges, the Chicago Tribune reports. During his bond hearing Tuesday in Chicago, Judge Harry D. Leinenweber said that Kelly’s child pornography charge has “presumption of detention,” according to Tribune reporter Madeline Buckley. Kelly entered a plea of not guilty.

On July 11, Kelly was detained by New York detectives and federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations. An Illinois federal court returned a 13-count indictment against Kelly. The charges are related to child pornography and obstruction of justice. Two Kelly employees—former business manager Derrell McDavid and one other man, Milton Brown—were also charged in the indictment, with prosecutors alleging that the two assisted Kelly in paying off reported victims in order to recover child pornography tapes. In addition, a federal court in Brooklyn, New York returned a five-count superseding indictment against Kelly on similar charges.

According to the indictment in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, federal officials allege that Kelly produced and received child pornography, enticed minors to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspired to intimidate victims and conceal evidence. According to the Department of Justice’s indictment, Kelly and Derrell McDavid paid people to collect videos where Kelly allegedly sexually abused minors to cover up the videos’ existence.

In the Brooklyn indictment, Kelly is charged with four counts of violating the Mann Act by allegedly transporting a victim “to engage in illegal sexual activity” and exposing “her to an infectious venereal disease without her knowledge,” according to the DOJ. He’s also charged with an 11-part count of racketeering. The 11 acts included the racketeering charge include: multiple instances of the sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, multiple instances of force labor, and other Mann Act violations. The DOJ’s findings align with allegations made in Jim DeRogatis’ bombshell BuzzFeed News story “Parents Told Police Their Daughter Is Being Held Against Her Will In R. Kelly’s ‘Cult.’” The summary states:

Kelly issued rules that many of his sexual partners were required to follow, including that the women and girls were to call him “Daddy”; they were not permitted to leave their rooms to eat or visit the bathroom without receiving his permission; they were required to wear baggy clothing when not accompanying Kelly to an event; and they were directed to keep their heads down and not look at other men. Kelly also isolated the women and girls from their friends and family, and made them dependent on him for their financial well-being.

In February, R. Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois. He subsequently turned himself in to authorities on those charges, which allege that Kelly abused four women, three of whom were minors, between 1998 and 2010. Kelly pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts of aggravated criminal assault. In May, he was charged with 11 more counts of sexual assault and abuse, four of which were Class X felonies.

Read “The Struggle to Silence R. Kelly” on the Pitch.