R. Kelly pleads not guilty to New York sex crime charges after calling accusers ‘disgruntled groupies’
If convicted of just the New York charges, Kelly faces up to 80 years in prison.
R. Kelly is in a Brooklyn courtroom on Friday to officially hear five federal criminal charges and enter a plea on accusations of racketeering and sex trafficking.
R. Kelly is spending Friday in a Brooklyn courtroom to officially hear five federal criminal charges and enter a plea on accusations of racketeering and sex trafficking.
Kelly entered a plea of not guilty, but Judge Steven L. Tiscione denied his request for bail.
Five women, including three girls, say they were victimized by Kelly in the New York indictment. In a strange defense, Kelly has reportedly called his accusers “disgruntled groupies” in new court filings also begging the judge in the case against him in Chicago to free him on bail as he awaits his sex abuse trial.
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According to TMZ, Kelly alleged in court documents that his accusers claims are false and blamed them for their interaction with him.
“Groupies sought out Robert’s attention, even fought each other for it, voluntarily contacted him, came to his shows, pined to be with him,’” the court documents state, referring to his accusers.
He called the alleged victim “disgruntled” who are seeking fame.
“Five disgruntled groupies, not all of which are alleged to be underage, who now show groupie remorse so many years later and only after a TV Show and an aggressive, vocal Cook County prosecutor makes a public cry for ‘victims come forth,’ tell your story and be famous,” the legal filing says.
The TV show that is being referenced is the explosive Lifetime docu-series, Surviving R. Kelly, which highlights the stories of dozens of women who gave harrowing accounts of being victimized by Kelly.
READ MORE: R. Kelly charged with criminal sexual abuse; no-bond warrant set by judge
In his filing, Kelly alleged that one of the victims even wanted to sleep with him so much that she didn’t want him to use a condom.
Kelly’s lawyers also said that the accuser who blamed Kelly for giving her herpes was “admittedly promiscuous.”
On Wednesday, a federal judge granted R. Kelly a protective order in an effort to prevent the case from being ‘tried in the public domain’, Variety reports.
The lawyers are now restricted from talking about any new evidence in the case in the public.
