Face of Nation : Robert Kelly, 52, was arrested by New York police detectives and investigators from the Department of Homeland Security and is expected to be taken to New York, the sources said. Further details were expected to be announced Friday.
Joseph Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, told the Associated Press that Kelly was taken into custody about 7 p.m. Thursday after a 13-count federal indictment was handed down earlier in the day. “The counts include child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice,” he said.
Homeland Security’s investigations division and New York police declined to comment. Calls to the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, New York, weren’t immediately returned.
Darrell Johnson, a crisis manager for R. Kelly, told NBC News early Friday that Kelly was looking forward to his day in court.
“When you’re innocent of charges — and Mr. Kelly has declared his innocence — in America, you know and I know, that you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Johnson said. “And he’s said many times that he’s innocent.”
Kelly has been the subject of sexual abuse allegations for nearly two decades, some of them alleging acts as far back as 1998. He has vigorously denied the allegations.
Allegations of sexual misconduct against Kelly gained renewed interest following the release in January of a six-part Lifetime documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly,” which detailed a number of women’s claims that they were sexually, physically and mentally abused. Kelly denied all of those accusations.
In 2008, a Cook County, Illinois, jury acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges stemming from a video that prosecutors said showed him having sex with a girl as young as 13. The young woman denied that it was her in the video and didn’t testify.
