R.Kelly pleads not guilty to fresh rape charges

Embattled singer, R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to fresh charges of child pornography and sexually abusing a teenage girl under the age of 16 brought against him.

The new alleged victim, referred to as Minor Six, was included as part of an updated federal indictment during an arraignment at a hearing in Chicago on Thursday.

Kelly is said to have met the girl in either 1997 or 1998 when she was 14 or 15-years-old. He is accused of engaging in sexual contact or sexual acts with her when she was under 18.

The indictment said Kelly “engaged in sexual contact and sexual acts” with Minor Six and four others when they were aged under 18. It also seeks to forfeit all assets from Kelly’s production company, Bass Productions Lt.

Prosecutor Angel Krull said they had seized more than 100 electronic devices, after carrying out a search warrant.

Judge Harry Leinenweber also pushed Kelly’s 27 April trial date back to 13 October.

Kelly, who has denied all allegations of abuse, faces several dozen counts of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota and New York, from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying the star with girls.

Back in July, R.Kelly was jailed and has been awaiting trial at a Chicago federal jail near to the courthouse, where he attends pre-trial hearings.

The federal charges in Chicago accuse Kelly of filming himself having sex with underage girls and of paying off potential witnesses during a trial in 2008 at which he was acquitted to get them to change their stories.