Musician R. Kelly has been arrested on federal child pornography and obstruction of justice charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said the pop star was arrested Thursday on a 13-count indictment. The singer was outside while walking his dog when he was arrested, Kelly’s publicist told ABC News.
Separately, a five-count indictment has been handed up from the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn that charges him with racketeering.
“R Kelly was arrested in Chicago tonight on charges contained in a 13-count indictment returned today in the Northern District of Illinois,” the attorney’s office said in a statement late Thursday. “The indictment includes charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice.”
It is not clear as of yet what other charges are included in either indictment.
Federal agents searched R. Kelly’s home in Trump Tower Chicago Friday morning.
Kelly was arrested by the New York Police Department, which will eventually bring him to New York City, a police source told ABC News. For now, a law enforcement official told ABC News that Kelly is expected to face charges in Chicago before being extradited to Brooklyn.
He is expected to be arraigned in Chicago later Friday.
Darrell Johnson, Kelly’s representative, said he will hold a press conference in Atlanta at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.
The charges are the latest in a number of legal issues for Kelly this year. The singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, is also facing 10 counts of felony criminal sexual abuse involving four alleged victims, after being arrested by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department in March. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, some of which date back to 1998.
Credit: ABC news
