R Kelly’s lawyer has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client after the R&B singer was charged with sexually abusing four victims dating back to 1998, including three underage teenagers.
Kelly, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, walked into a Chicago courtroom wearing an orange jail jumpsuit after spending the weekend in the city’s 7,000-inmate jail.
He said little during the brief hearing, telling the judge only that his name was Robert Kelly.
Kelly was arrested on Friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four females, three of whom were minors.
A judge on Saturday set bail at one million dollars (£765,000). The Grammy Award-winning singer paid 100,000 dollars and was ready to be released as he awaits trial.
Among the conditions of release is that Kelly have no contact with females younger than 18.
Kelly’s case was assigned to Cook County Associate Judge Lawrence Flood, who will preside over the trial.
His next court date is March 22.
A spokeswoman for Cook County Sheriff’s Office said the money was posted late on Monday afternoon, and Kelly was expected to be freed later in the evening.
“He has to rely on others acting on his behalf,” Mr Greenberg said.
“And it’s just not that easy – because Kelly’s in jail.”
Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who represents two alleged victims, said his legal team has given prosecutors a second video that he alleges shows Kelly sexually assaulting a minor.
Mr Avenatti previously gave prosecutors video evidence of what he says shows the singer allegedly having sex with an underage girl.
He told reporters that the second video also involves a 14-year-old girl and is from 1999 or 2000, but did not say if it was the same 14-year-old girl who he alleged was in the first video he turned over to the authorities.
In arguing for bail within the singer’s ability to pay, Mr Greenberg told a judge over the weekend that Kelly was not wealthy despite decades of success creating hit songs.
The lawyer blamed mismanagement, bad contracts and other issues for his client’s financial woes.
Details of the allegations against Kelly emerged on Saturday when the prosecution released four detailed documents – one for each accuser – outlining the basis for the charges.
The allegations date back as far as 1998 and span more than a decade.
At the bail hearing, Mr Greenberg said his client is not a flight risk.
He told the judge: “Contrary to the song, Mr Kelly doesn’t like to fly.”
One of Kelly’s best-known hits is I Believe I Can Fly.
After the hearing, Mr Greenberg told reporters that Kelly did not force anyone to have sex.
“He’s a rock star. He doesn’t have to have non-consensual sex,” Mr Greenberg said.
The judge ordered Kelly to surrender his passport, ending his hopes of doing a tour of Europe in April.
Kelly defiantly scheduled concerts in Germany and the Netherlands despite the cloud of legal issues looming over him.
Mr Greenberg denied that any tour was planned.
The recording artist, whose legal name is Robert Kelly, was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 and has consistently denied any sexual misconduct.
