R Kelly is facing fresh allegations that he sexually abused a teenage boy after meeting him at a McDonald’s.
The R&B singer is currently in jail awaiting trial to begin on August 18 regarding sex abuse and racketeering charges.
On Friday, US prosecutors filed new allegations in the ongoing case and want a jury, set to be selected on August 9 in New York, to hear from more than a dozen other people who claim to have been sexually or physically abused, threatened or mistreated by Kelly.
This includes the allegation that Kelly, full name Robert Kelly, had sexual contact with a 17-year-old boy after meeting him in a McDonald’s in 2006 and inviting him to his Chicago studio.
The teen was reportedly an aspiring musician and Kelly is said to have offered him help with his music career, before later propositioning and having sexual contact while he was still underage.
According to the filing, the same teenage boy introduced Kelly to another 16 or 17-year-old boy who the singer allegedly began a relationship with several years later.
Kelly has denied all allegations against him but his lawyers are yet to address the latest claims.
Prosecutors argue that these two accounts and those of others will show that Kelly’s alleged crimes ‘were not isolated events and were part of a larger pattern’.
The 54-year-old, best known for songs like I Believe I Can Fly and Step In The Name Of Love, was arrested in 2019 and is currently being held without bond at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and is also facing accusations of sexual exploitation of children and has pleaded not guilty to several charges in the states of Illinois, New York and Minnesota.
He is accused of running a so-called ring of managers, bodyguards, and others who allegedly helped him find women and girls to take part in sex and pornography, while the musician exercised control over them.
Opening statements in R Kelly’s case are set to begin on August 18, with jury selection taking place the week before.
Metro.co.uk has contacted R Kelly’s representative for comment.
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