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Embattled R&B musician R. Kelly is facing additional charges of sexual abuse, for allegations spanning more than a decade.
Chicago prosecutors on Thursday filed 11 felony sex crime charges against the former superstar, his most serious so far, with some carrying a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
The new charges relate to an alleged incident in 2010. They include four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault by force and three countrs of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between ages 13 to 16.
Kelly is already facing 10 felony charges, filed in February, for the alleged abuse of four women.
The latest counts are refiled charges pertaining to the same victim, and not an entirely new case, Kelly's lawyer Steve Greenberg said.
"These are the same conduct, just charged differently, same alleged victim, same time frame, same facts," Greenberg said on Twitter.
"It changes nothing," Greenberg said.
Kelly is currently out on bail. He will appear in court June 6 on the new charges, US media reported. He has pleaded not guilty to the original charges.
The Cook County State Attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, has not yet commented.
Kelly was the subject of a six-part Lifetime documentary series following decades of sexual abuse allegations. This followed years of controversy, including:
- Allegedly marrying protege Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27 in 1994.
- Was indicted but then acquitted on 14 counts of child pornography in 2002.
- Three different sets of parents accused the singer of luring their daughters in a "sex cult" in 2017.
- Accusations by a former partner of "intentionally" infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease in 2018.
Kelly has denied allegations he sexually abused women and girls. In an interview with CBS This Morning in March, the emotional musician said: "Whether they're old rumors, new rumors, future rumors, not true."
