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CHICAGO — R&B star R. Kelly pleaded not guilty on Monday to a series of sexual-abuse charges involving minors.
Kelly, 52, wearing an orange jumpsuit with DOC on the back, appeared briefly before Cook County Circuit Court Judge LeRoy Martin.
The singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, surrendered to police on Friday. Hours earlier, prosecutors unsealed his indictment on 10 counts of felony aggravated sexual abuse involving four alleged victims, three of whom were under 17.
Each count carries a prison sentence of three to seven years if convicted. Kelly's bond was set at $1 million on Saturday, meaning he'd have to come up with 10 percent in cash before being released.
So the singer can be free on bail as soon as he can come up with $100,000 cash. There had been a question if Kelly needed make good on $161,663 in back child support before posting bail, but lawyers agreed he could post bond even with that debt looming over him.
California attorney Michael Avenatti on Friday claimed that his office gave prosecutors video recordings of Kelly having sex with one of the victims, a 14-year-old girl.
Avenatti, in court for the hearing Monday, said that his investigators had uncovered another tape of Kelly "engaged in sexual assault of a minor" that he'll give prosecutors as well.
"This man deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life," Avenatti told reporters after the hearing. "This reign of abuse and assault by Mr. Kelly is about to come to an abrupt end."
Kelly and defense lawyer Steve Greenberg have consistently denied any wrongdoing in previous allegations made against him over the years.
Kelly was criminally accused of sexual misconduct in 2002, eventually tried on child pornography charges in the same case and cleared by a jury in 2008 on all counts.
But allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer gained renewed attention in January with the airing of a Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly."
Jerhonda Pace, who appeared in the series and claimed she was sexually abused by Kelly as a teen, attended Monday's hearing in Chicago.
The six-part series had interviews with numerous women who accuse Kelly of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Sony Music parted ways with Kelly after "Surviving" aired.
Puskar reported from Chicago; Li from New York