R Kelly has been charged with 11 new counts of sex assault in Illinois, United States today — charges that could see him face up to 30 years in prison.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that four of the new charges – aggravated criminal sexual assault, are felony Class X counts, which are the most serious in the state of Illinois, outside of first-degree murder.
They carry a mandatory sentence of six to 30 year and are the most serious the entertainer has faced yet.
In February, the 52-year-old was charged in a previous case with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were underage.
Kelly, who is free on $1million (£792,900) bond following his indictment, is due to appear in court on the new case 6 June.
The charging document, according to the publication, does not contain many details about whether the new charges – from the January 2010 incident – are in relation to the same victims.
Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg said he was notified of the new charges but hadn’t yet reviewed any of the court documents.
He told the tabloid: ‘We’ll see what the charges are, and we’ll proceed accordingly. I know this much: It’s old. They’re allegations from years ago.’
The star previously denied all charges against him during an interview in March.
As well as the slew of allegations levelled against him, R Kelly has been battling his ex-wife, and his lawyer handed a $62,000 (£48,000) cheque to his ex-wife to bring his child support payments up to date.
The Ignition artist spent a short spell in Cook County Jail in March for failing to pay more than $161,000 (£124,000) child support to his ex-wife Andrea Lee, but he was released days later, and a payment has now been made at a hearing in Chicago earlier this month.
The hearing is the first in his divorce case with Andrea to be held in public in 2013 after a judge previously sealed the proceedings, but Cook County Judge Lori Rosen has now ruled in favour of Andrea’s motion to unseal the case.
Alison Motta, Andrea’s lawyer, is quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times as saying: ‘Ms. Kelly appreciates the fact that Mr. Kelly is not going to have any special protection above and beyond what anyone else has.
‘[If] he doesn’t take his responsibilities seriously, doesn’t comply with his obligations to his children, it’s gonna get filed and people will know.’
Metro.co.uk have contacted R Kelly’s reps for comment.
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