*R. Kelly’s legal team has slammed new allegations that he sexually abused a male minor whom he reportedly met at a McDonald’s.
“This is nothing more than a veiled effort to pile on to further shape the public’s perception in this case ignoring that Mr. Kelly is presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” Nicole Blank Becker, one of Kelly’s attorneys, tells TMZ.
Kelly’s defense tells the outlet it will “vigorously oppose” the prosecution’s request to enter new evidence, adding … “As the trial nears were are looking forward to the truth prevailing.”
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Here’s more from TMZ:
According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly met a 17-year-old boy in 2006 at a McDonald’s … whom they say Kelly then invited to a party at his Chicago residence. The kid went with his parents, but the feds say Kelly told him to swing by next time by himself … and, apparently, the 17-year-old did — at which point, things allegedly turned sexual.
The feds say that upon returning visits to Kelly’s place — and under the guise of trying to help jumpstart the boy’s singing career — Kelly began a sexual relationship with him. Soon after that, prosecutors claim the 17-year-old intro’d Kelly to yet another minor male — who was either 16 or 17 at the time — and they say Kelly sought to sexually abuse him too.
It wasn’t until years later, it seems, that something materialized between the second John Doe and Kelly, so say the feds. They say Kelly did, in fact, begin a sexual relationship with him as well — but that he allegedly would command the guy to have sex with women in his orbit … and allegedly filmed a lot of those encounters. There are new Jane Does sprinkled in the filing as well, BTW … on top of the ones he’s already alleged to have trafficked.
Prosecutors also claim someone on R. Kelly’s team successfully bribed a Cook County official in 2019. The official accepted $2500 in exchange for information related to the case.
A judge has yet to rule on the request to submit this new evidence. This trial is set to get underway next month.
