A superseding indictment added a new alleged victim and dropped another. File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI |
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March 5 (UPI) -- R. Kelly pleaded not guilty to revised sexual abuse charges during a Chicago court appearance Thursday in which federal prosecutors said they seized more than 100 electronic devices from the singer.
The updated indictment includes a new alleged victim identified in court documents as Minor Six, who told investigators she knew the singer when she was 14 or 15. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, pleaded not guilty to 13 counts accusing him of sexual activity with five people under age 18.
In addition to adding Minor Six, prosecutors dropped an alleged victim in the superseding indictment.
Kelly's co-defendants, Milton Brown and Derrel McDavid, also pleaded not guilty.
During the same hearing, federal prosecutors told the court they executed a search warrant and seized more than 100 smartphones, computer hard drives and iPads from Kelly. Among the charges in his federal indictment, Kelly faces counts of child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber set a trial date for Oct. 13.
Kelly faces cases in multiple states related to sexual abuse, sex trafficking and obstruction of justice.
New York prosecutors accused him in December of paying for a fake ID for an unnamed woman one day before he married singer Aaliyah when she was 15 years old. Their Aug. 31, 1994, marriage certificate falsely listed her age as 18.
In an unrelated case in New York, he faced charges of racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and sexual exploitation of a child in July.
In August, prosecutors in Minnesota levied charges against him for soliciting a minor in 2001.
Meanwhile, he was arrested in Illinois in March 2019 for failing to pay more than $161,000 in back child support to his ex-wife.
