Police search R. Kelly's recording studio

CHICAGO, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Police searched the Chicago recording studio of R&B singer R. Kelly Thursday night, where a 24-year-old beautician said she was sexually abused.

Crime lab technicians recovered a number of items from inside the Chicago Trax Recording Studio and from a dumpster in the rear of the building.

The young woman filed a complaint Tuesday against Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, charging the Grammy Award-winning rhythm-and-blues star sexually abused her earlier that day. Kelly was in town to promote the release of his latest CD "The Chocolate Factory" and held a news conference at George's Music Room on the West Side to offer $3,000 to each family of the 21 people killed in the E2 nightclub stampede Monday morning.

WMAQ-TV reported the woman was a beautician who worked for Kelly part-time.

A spokesman for Kelly called the charges "nonsense."

"Coming as they did on the same day R. Kelly released what is likely to be the most successful album of his career, these supposed charges amount to nothing more than an outrageous and blatant attempt at character assassination," said Kelly's spokesman Allan Mayer in a statement. "The fact is Kelly did not assault anyone or engage in any improper behavior yesterday or any day, and he is confident that an impartial investigation will confirm that."

Kelly, who is married and has three children, already was charged with 21 counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping sex acts with underage girls. He is scheduled to appear in for a hearing in Cook County Criminal Court March 7.

He was arrested in Miami Jan. 22 on 12 counts of possession of child pornography after police searched his rented home in Davenport, Fla., 35 miles southeast of Orlando, and recovered a dozen images of underage females engaged in sexual encounters.

At least four lawsuits have been filed against Kelly accusing him of having sex with minors.

Kelly was briefly married to the late R&B star Aaliyah, who died in a 2001 plane crash while on a video shoot in the Bahamas, when she was 15 years old.