R. Kelly pleads not guilty to federal child pornography charges, to be held without bond

Disgraced singer, R. Kelly has been ordered held without bond at a Tuesday hearing  in federal court in Chicago after he pleaded not guilty to 13 federal charges, including child pornography and obstruction of justice.

The 52-year old was accused of one count of conspiracy to receive child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, four counts of producing child pornography, five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, court document shows.

Prosecutors argued on Tuesday that home confinement and electronic monitoring would not be sufficient, given the charges against the singer.

“This risk of obstruction is real. This risk is ongoing. This risk is heightened by the defendant’s fame and power,” one assistant U.S. attorney told the judge, Harry Leinenweber, at Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. The singer “has a unique ability to influence and intimidate witnesses and victims, and that continues to this day.”

This comes days after R.Kelly was arrested in Chicago on two separate federal grand jury indictments in Illinois and New York. The indictments allege Kelly recruited women for sex, persuaded people to conceal that he had sexual contact with teenage girls and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying back the missing videotapes.

The singer is being held in the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

Source: Linda Ikeji