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CHICAGO — R. Kelly spent Saturday night in Cook County Jail and will be there at least one more night after he failed to post 10 percent of his $1 million bond Sunday.
The R&B singer is charged with sexually abusing a woman and three teens from 1998 to 2010.
Defense attorney Steve Greenberg said the singer is being held in the medical section of the jail, away from other inmates, because it’s easier for sheriff’s deputies. Greenberg met with Kelly for about an hour Sunday and expects the singer to post bond Monday.
“He’s in high sprits considering what’s going on,” Greenberg said. “I mean, no one wants to be in jail.”
When asked why it was taking so long for an international superstar to come up with money, Greenberg blamed banks being closed. He previously said Kelly “really doesn’t have any money.”
“This is someone who should be wealthy,” Greenberg said Saturday, noting that Kelly has lost money to mismanagement and bad contracts over the years. “I don’t even think he owns the rights to ‘I Believe I Can Fly.'”
Kelly was dropped from his record label, is behind on rent and owes more than $161,000 in child support. Greenberg said Kelly planned to pay that debt.
Kelly is slated to appear before a judge at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, 2650 S. California Ave., on Monday.
Prosecutors this weekend laid out their case against Kelly — detailing abuse allegations that span 12 years and involve four separate victims.
Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. called the accusations “disturbing” before setting bail at $1 million. Kelly, 52, needs to post $100,000, or 10 percent of the total bail amount, to go free.
Should he be released, the judge ordered, Kelly is banned from contact with minors. He must also surrender his passport.
Kelly is charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Each carries a possible sentence of three to seven years; probation without prison time is also an option.
According to prosecutors, Kelly met the first of the four victims in this case in May 1998 as the girl celebrated her 16th birthday at a restaurant. Kelly’s manager gave the girl a business card with the singer’s phone number on it.
The girl soon visited Kelly’s Near West Side studio at 865 N. Larrabee St., where Kelly had sex with the girl despite “difficulty maintaining an erection,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said. The teen was sent home with an envelope of money.
Prosecutors allege similar encounters happened monthly for a year.
Foxx said the second victim in this case was 14 years old when she was videotaped having sex with Kelly at his Olympia Fields home. A witness was asked to retrieve the tape in 2001 and later gave it to authorities.
In the video, prosecutors said, the girl repeatedly tells Kelly she’s 14.
The third victim was a 24-year-old hairdresser who worked for Kelly in February 2003 when he attacked her inside his Near West Studio, prosecutors allege.
Kelly is accused of trying to force the woman to perform oral sex before masturbating in front of her, ejaculating on her and spitting in her face multiple times.
Semen on the woman’s shirt was a match to Kelly’s DNA, according to Illinois State Police.
Prosecutors allege Kelly met the final victim in this case, a 16-year-old girl, outside a Chicago court hearing in 2008. Kelly was on trial for child pornography at the time; he was later acquitted of all charges. The girl wanted Kelly’s autograph.
Foxx said the two had a sexual relationship that lasted several months. Kelly is accused of spitting on the girl, slapping her and choking her.
A 6-part Lifetime documentary called “Surviving R. Kelly” recently catapulted the singer back into the spotlight. In the show, alleged victims and Kelly’s close friends accuse the singer of abuse, predatory behavior and pedophilia.
“Everything in that documentary was a rehash of things they’ve known for years,” Greenberg said. “The police have investigated, the prosecutors investigated. The jury heard [it], and everybody rejected it.”
Last month, Foxx made a public plea for victims to come forward, calling the allegations against Kelly “sickening.”

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