R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 13 alleged sex trafficking charges.
The “Ignition” hitmaker was arrested on the charges — which also included charges for alleged child pornography and obstruction of justice — earlier this month, after he was already arrested on two separate occasions for 11 felonies related to sexual assault and abuse, and a further 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, all of which he has denied.
And after a court hearing on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, the disgraced R&B star entered a plea of not guilty to the latest charges.
But despite his not guilty plea, TMZ reports he will stay behind bars for the time being, after a judge denied his bond and sided with his prosecutors, who argued he shouldn’t be allowed on the streets.
Prosecutors claimed the risk of obstruction is still ongoing, and alleged Kelly is a danger to the community, especially young girls.
They said: “[Kelly has the] unique ability to influence and intimidate witnesses and victims, and that continues to this day. It’s who the defendant is.”
Kelly‘s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, then argued Kelly is no longer a risk to minors as all but one of the allegations against him date back to the 90s, and insisted his client isn’t a flight risk as he’s already surrendered his passport to the authorities and doesn’t like to fly.
Greenberg also noted the 52-year-old musician would make a “difficult prisoner” because of his notoriety, but the judge eventually sided with the prosecution, saying that the allegation of child pornography alone comes with a “presumption of detention.”
Kelly has been ordered to stay in jail without bond.
The news comes just one month after the musician was last in court to plead not guilty to 11 felonies related to sexual assault and abuse in Illinois, including five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual assault.
In those legal documents, Kelly was accused of committing an act of sexual penetration on a victim known as “J.P.” in an incident which allegedly took place on January 2010, when the victim was under the age of 18.
Kelly was also previously faced with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse when four women accused him of sexually abusing them, three of whom claim they were underage at the time of the alleged incidents.
The musician has denied all allegations against him.
