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R. Kelly pleads not guilty
27/06/2002 10:38 - (SA)
Chicago - Grammy-winning rhythm and blues singer R. Kelly pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 21 counts of child pornography stemming from a videotape he allegedly made with an underage girl.
The 35-year-old entertainer, dressed in a blue suit and red tie, waved to fans outside Cook County Circuit Court where he entered the plea during a brief hearing.
Another hearing was set for August 7 and Kelly remained free on bail as he has been since shortly after his arrest in Florida on June 5.
Kelly could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges of videotaping, producing or soliciting for child pornography spelled out in an indictment handed up by a Cook County grand jury.
The 26-minute videotape, which had become a bootleg bestseller on street corners, was sent anonymously to the Chicago Sun-Times in February and appears to depict Kelly, whose given name is Robert, engaging in sex acts with a girl. The paper turned the video over to the police.
Police claimed the girl on the tape was 14. Kelly has claimed the man on the tape is not him and his lawyer has said the girl in any case was of age.
The two-time Grammy winner released a song after his indictment blaming his troubles on being famous. His record label gave an advance copy of the single Heaven, I Need a Hug, to WGCI-FM in Chicago, a station in his hometown that his publicist said has been very supportive of the artist.
According to lyrics that have been published he sings, "It's all because I'm famous/You know what I'm sayin'/I mean if I wasn't famous/Then all this wouldn't be happening/I'm just being real." He also sings, "church folks, you need to stop judging" and he urges women to "stop depending on us men/start depending on the man above".
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