Fallon
06-05-2002, 03:07 PM
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chart-topping rhythm and blues singer R. Kelly was arrested on Wednesday on charges of producing child pornography based on a videotape he allegedly made with an under-age girl that has become a bootleg best-seller on street corners, officials said.
Kelly was arrested in central Florida's Polk County a few hours after authorities issued a nationwide warrant for him, Chicago police said.
"Decency and the law demand this indictment today," Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard told a news conference. "It's unfortunate to see Mr. Kelly's talents go to waste but it becomes a tragedy when behavior damages the community."
Kelly, a two-time Grammy Award winner, issued a statement through a Los Angeles publicist saying, "Even though I don't believe any of these charges are warranted, I'm grateful that I will have a chance to establish the truth about me in a court of law.
"I have complete faith in our system of justice, and I am confident that when all the facts come out, people will see that I'm no criminal," said Kelly, who has previously dismissed the videotape as a fake.
Kelly's lawyer, Edward Genson, said the girl on the tape was not under-age, and that Kelly would plead not guilty.
Kelly, 35, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine said. He said the indictment handed up by a grand jury consisted of 21 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting for child pornography.
The indictment resulted from a 26-minute videotape sent anonymously to the Chicago Sun-Times in February, copies of which have been sold on street corners nationwide, that appear to depict Kelly, whose given name is Robert, engaging in sex acts with a girl. The paper turned the video over to the police.
"GIRL WAS UNDER-AGE"
The tape was made at Kelly's luxurious Chicago apartment sometime between 1997 and when the newspaper obtained its copy, the indictment said. Kelly either knew, or should have known, the girl was born in September 1984 and was therefore a minor.
Hillard said anyone caught selling or in possession of the tape would be in violation of child pornography laws. "It would be my advice to you to dispose of these tapes," he said.
Kelly, the target of numerous lawsuits or threatened suits from women who alleged they were under age when he had sex with them or videotaped them without their knowledge, has settled some for cash.
Police said on Wednesday FBI (news - web sites) experts had examined the tape and determined it was authentic and that the figures were in fact Kelly and the under-age girl.
Kelly told an interviewer on Black Entertainment Network television a month ago that he was no monster. "If people out there have a tape of me and they're saying it's me and a young girl, a minor ... then they're sadly mistaken or they're lying. I can say with all confidence it's not me."
Kelly, whose lyrics range from the religious to "bump-and-grind" love songs, was discovered singing in the Chicago subways for change and became a top-selling singer and producer, writing the 1996 single "I Believe I Can Fly" for the movie "Space Jam". He has sold millions of records, topping the charts in 2000 with "TP-2.Com," and he performed at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (news - web sites) in Salt Lake City.
Kelly's recent release with the rapper Jay-Z, "The Best of Both Worlds," has been a poor seller and Jay-Z has refused to promote it because of the allegations against Kelly.
Kelly first married his 15-year-old protege Aaliyah Haughton in 1994, but the marriage to the future singing star was soon annulled. She died in a plane crash in August. Kelly married a dancer in his touring group in 1996 and has two daughters and a son. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=579&e=1&cid=579&u=/nm/20020605/en_nm/crime_rkelly_dc_13
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Kelly was arrested in central Florida's Polk County a few hours after authorities issued a nationwide warrant for him, Chicago police said.
"Decency and the law demand this indictment today," Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard told a news conference. "It's unfortunate to see Mr. Kelly's talents go to waste but it becomes a tragedy when behavior damages the community."
Kelly, a two-time Grammy Award winner, issued a statement through a Los Angeles publicist saying, "Even though I don't believe any of these charges are warranted, I'm grateful that I will have a chance to establish the truth about me in a court of law.
"I have complete faith in our system of justice, and I am confident that when all the facts come out, people will see that I'm no criminal," said Kelly, who has previously dismissed the videotape as a fake.
Kelly's lawyer, Edward Genson, said the girl on the tape was not under-age, and that Kelly would plead not guilty.
Kelly, 35, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine said. He said the indictment handed up by a grand jury consisted of 21 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting for child pornography.
The indictment resulted from a 26-minute videotape sent anonymously to the Chicago Sun-Times in February, copies of which have been sold on street corners nationwide, that appear to depict Kelly, whose given name is Robert, engaging in sex acts with a girl. The paper turned the video over to the police.
"GIRL WAS UNDER-AGE"
The tape was made at Kelly's luxurious Chicago apartment sometime between 1997 and when the newspaper obtained its copy, the indictment said. Kelly either knew, or should have known, the girl was born in September 1984 and was therefore a minor.
Hillard said anyone caught selling or in possession of the tape would be in violation of child pornography laws. "It would be my advice to you to dispose of these tapes," he said.
Kelly, the target of numerous lawsuits or threatened suits from women who alleged they were under age when he had sex with them or videotaped them without their knowledge, has settled some for cash.
Police said on Wednesday FBI (news - web sites) experts had examined the tape and determined it was authentic and that the figures were in fact Kelly and the under-age girl.
Kelly told an interviewer on Black Entertainment Network television a month ago that he was no monster. "If people out there have a tape of me and they're saying it's me and a young girl, a minor ... then they're sadly mistaken or they're lying. I can say with all confidence it's not me."
Kelly, whose lyrics range from the religious to "bump-and-grind" love songs, was discovered singing in the Chicago subways for change and became a top-selling singer and producer, writing the 1996 single "I Believe I Can Fly" for the movie "Space Jam". He has sold millions of records, topping the charts in 2000 with "TP-2.Com," and he performed at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (news - web sites) in Salt Lake City.
Kelly's recent release with the rapper Jay-Z, "The Best of Both Worlds," has been a poor seller and Jay-Z has refused to promote it because of the allegations against Kelly.
Kelly first married his 15-year-old protege Aaliyah Haughton in 1994, but the marriage to the future singing star was soon annulled. She died in a plane crash in August. Kelly married a dancer in his touring group in 1996 and has two daughters and a son. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=579&e=1&cid=579&u=/nm/20020605/en_nm/crime_rkelly_dc_13
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