R. Kelly charged with prostitution and solicitation involving a minor in Minnesota

R.Kelly has been charged with two sex crimes in Minnesota.

On Monday, August 5, 2019, a Minnesota prosecutor charged the disgraced singer with prostitution and solicitation over an allegation that he invited a 17-year-old girl to his hotel room in 2001 and paid her $200 to dance naked with him.

Court documents revealed that while the singer was on tour in 2001, he held an autograph session at the city center in Minneapolis where he met a 17-year-old fan. But instead of just his signature, he gave the girl his phone number. The girl later called and was directed to a downtown Minneapolis hotel where Kelly was staying. 

“After some discussion, she was offered $200 to take her clothes off and to dance before him,” Freeman said. “She accepted $200. He got naked and they proceeded to dance.”

“According to Victim, the defendant was rubbing her body” and fondling himself. She also stated that the defendant touched all over her body.”

The complaint said the girl attended Kelly’s concert “as a guest who did not have to pay,” and told her brother what had happened in Kelly’s hotel room.

“We felt we had more than enough to charge based on her testimony and corroboration from her brother,” Freeman said. “I don’t like buying sex from minors, and I don’t think most other people do either.”

The charges are felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

The new charges add more legal problem for Kelly, who is currently in jail in New York after pleading not guilty to charges that he sexually abused women and girls who attended his concerts.