The past year has truly been a fall from grace for R&B singer R. Kelly. After Lifetime aired it’s scathing documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”, the embattled singer was charged with a number of serious crimes related to his relations with women, many of whom are alleged to be underage.
Now, the singer is in the news once again with another charge. This time, it is a federal charge related to his marriage to Aaliyah.
It has been public knowledge that Kelly married Aaliyah when she was only fifteen years old, but there has never been a clear understanding as to how this was pulled off without consent from her parents.
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Now, the truth has come to light. Yesterday, a grand jury charged R. Kelly with federal bribery charges. The singer allegedly bribed an Illinois official to produce a fake ID card for his underage bride-to-be. The charges allege that the bribery occurred on August 30, 1994–one day before the controversial marriage was legally formed.
The marriage license listed Aaliyah’s age as 18–the youngest a person is allowed to marry in Illinois without parental consent.
Whenever the marriage to Aaliyah has been brought up in the past, Kelly’s representatives have consistently denied that they knew about Aaliyah’s age at the time of the marriage.
This is just more dirt on the pile for R Kelly; he is currently being held in a Chicago jail awaiting trial without bond on federal charges in Illinois and New York.
This is a developing story, and 105.1 The Bounce will report any new developments as they come to light.
