Federal prosecutors in Chicago have filed a fresh indictment against R&B singer R. Kelly that contains new allegations but also appears to remove a victim from the case.
Though largely similar to the original indictment against Kelly, the new charges allege he enticed a previously unmentioned minor between 1997 and 2000 “to engage in sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, namely, aggravated criminal sexual abuse.”
It says the alleged victim, identified as “Minor 6,” met Kelly in 1997 or 1998 when the person was 14 or 15 years old.
The new indictment also appears to remove from the list of victims the person previously identified as “Minor 2,” who plays a central role in the allegations of pay-offs during Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial. That person is now identified as “Individual D.”
Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor, said the move could indicate prosecutors felt uncomfortable presenting that person to a jury as a victim but had corroborating evidence to put that person on the stand as a witness.
“The presentation of the evidence seems to have been tweaked a little bit, but the overall construction of the case remains the same,” said Cramer, managing director in Chicago of Berkeley Research Group.
The new charges mean Kelly will again have to appear for arraignment at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago’s Loop. It also means Kelly’s trial there, currently set for April, will likely be rescheduled.
Kelly has, since last summer, faced federal indictments in Chicago and Brooklyn, as well as earlier local charges in Cook County and more recent charges in Minnesota. The federal case in Chicago alleges child pornography and obstruction of justice, while the feds in Brooklyn have alleged racketeering.
A revised version of the Brooklyn indictment filed in December also accused Kelly of scheming with others to obtain fake identification for his onetime protege, Aaliyah, through bribery around the time of their marriage in 1994. Aaliyah was 15 at the time.
Prosecutors in New York have said witnesses told them Kelly married Aaliyah to avoid criminal charges and to keep her from testifying against him. Aaliyah died in 2001.
Late last month, U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly in New York ruled Kelly’s lawyers will have to wait to learn the identities of two of his accusers, finding prosecutors “substantiated” that Kelly has the ability to interfere with his case from jail.
The feds had alleged Kelly smuggled a letter into the federal jail where he’s been locked up and used an “unmonitored line” to make an unrecorded phone call.
He has been held in Chicago’s downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center since his arrest in July.
Prosecutors said the smuggled letter was brought to Kelly by an attorney who “is not one of the defendant’s attorneys of record in this case.” They said it was marked “Legal” to avoid inspection.
They also said a prison staff member gave Kelly permission to use a telephone to contact a third party — a call that “was not recorded and obviously circumvented the protocols in place to ensure monitoring of the defendant’s communications.”
Prosecutors have said in court documents they intend to disclose the full identity of the witnesses to Kelly’s legal team about two weeks before the trial date.
Kelly’s federal trials in Chicago and New York are set for April and July, respectively.
