Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. ordered a $1 million bond for R. Kelly during his first appearance in a Chicago courtroom on Saturday.
On Friday, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the singer was being charged with 10 counts aggravated criminal sexual abuse for alleged sexual acts with three children older than 13 but younger than 17. A fourth victim was 24 at the time of the alleged incident. Foxx also accused Kelly of using force or the threat of force in at least one of the assaults.
As a condition of his bond, Kelly is prohibited from having contact with anyone under 18 and must also surrender his passport.
During the hearing, prosecutors revealed several graphic details of Kelly’s alleged misconduct. According to CNN, “Kelly allegedly spit on two the victims. And one of the alleged victims provided authorities with a shirt she wore during an alleged encounter with Kelly, which later tested positive for his DNA.”
While sexual misconduct allegations have swirled around the singer for years, culminating in Lifetime’s recent six-part docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly, the singer has continuously denied the accusations. Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, said the singer will be “vindicated” and called Kelly’s bond amount “fair and reasonable.”
“Right now he’s presumed innocent. We haven’t seen any reason to believe that these allegations are credible,” Greenberg said.
“Mr. Kelly is strong, he’s got a lot of support and he’s going to be vindicated on all these charges–one by one if it has to be,” he added.
At the conclusion of the bond hearing, Kelly was taken away in handcuffs by police. To be released from custody, he will need to post $100,000 bail.
Kelly is scheduled to return to court on March 8 to be arraigned.
