MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota authorities are charging singer R. Kelly with two counts of prostitution and solicitation involving a girl under 18 for an alleged incident in 2001.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says Robert Kelly is charged in an incident involving a girl he met at a concert. Freeman says the girl was trying to get an autograph from Kelly, and he gave her the autograph and a phone number.

The prosecutor says when the girl called the number she was invited to Kelly’s hotel, offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance. He says Kelly took his clothes off and they danced together.

Freeman says his office investigated after getting a tip from a Chicago tip line.

Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg tweeted: “Give me a break. This is beyond absurd” </s> Embattled R&B singer R. Kelly is facing new charges in Minnesota, as he continues to battle cases in Illinois and New York, prosecutors announced Monday.The charges include one count of engaging in prostitution with a person under 18 years of age and one count of hiring a person under 18 years of age for sexual purposes, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.The charges stem from allegations on an incident that took place in July 2001. Freeman said the victim "was attempting to obtain an autograph at City Center in Minneapolis, which Kelly gave to her along with a phone number."When she called Kelly, she was directed to go to his hotel, where she was met by a member of his staff and "ushered up to a hotel suite."Kelly then allegedly offered her to take her clothes off for $200 and dance for him. Freeman says she accepted the money, got naked and proceeded to dance, with "sexual contact" occurring during the incident.R. Kelly is currently in custody in New York charged with other underage sex crimes. </s> R. Kelly is facing even more sex crime charges.

The embattled singer is facing two counts of engaging in prostitution with an individual under 18 years old and offering to hire for sexual purposes a person under 18. The events allegedly took place with an underage girl in Minneapolis in July 2001.

During a news conference on Monday, State Attorney Mike Freeman said the alleged victim approached Kelly for an autograph and claims that the 52-year-old singer paid her $200 to get naked and engage in sexual acts at his Minneapolis hotel.

Freeman said that there was no sexual intercourse between Kelly and the underage girl, but there was “sexual contact.” He also admitted that the case will be difficult to prosecute, given that the evidence dates back nearly 20 years.

The news follows a month in and out of courts for Kelly. He was charged with 18 counts of sexual misconduct and other charges in Chicago and New York and pled not guilty to five federal criminal charges including kidnapping and racketeering.

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R. Kelly Charged With Sex Crimes In Minnesota was originally published on theboxhouston.com </s> R. Kelly has been charged with new sex crimes involving an underage girl in Minnesota. Kelly was charged with two counts, one for “engaging in prostitution with an individual under 18 years of age, and one for hiring, or offering to hire, for sexual purposes with a person under 18,” said County Attorney Mike Freeman, who announced the charges on Monday. According to Freeman, the alleged offenses occurred in July 2001. “The victim was under 18 at the time, she was attempting to obtain an autograph from Mr. Kelly. He gave it to her, he also gave her a phone number and told her to call him. When she called him she was directed to go to his hotel where she was met with a member of his staff and ushered up to his hotel suite,” Freeman said. “After some discussion she was offered $200 to take her clothes off and to dance before him.”

Kelly then allegedly invited her to attend one of his 18-or-over concerts as a VIP guest, but changed the phone number given to the girl shortly after. The disgraced singer is currently in custody in New York on separate charges involving a “racketeering enterprise” in which he allegedly recruited girls for sex. </s> R. Kelly is deeply aligned with the struggle as he continues to fight criminal sex charges in the state of Illinois and New York. Now, Minnesota is jumping in on the mix and brought up a 2001 incident in the state where the beleaguered R&B singer allegedly tried to pay minors for sex.

Hennepin County Attorney just made the announcement that Kelly has been charged with 2 felony counts for allegedly engaging in prostitution with someone under 18-years-old and offering to hire someone under the age of 18 for sexual purposes.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman claims that in 2001, Kelly met with a fan at the City Center shopping mall in Minnesota.

The fan was an underage girl who was attempting to get an autograph, and Kelly allegedly gave her his phone number with instructions to call.

When she called, the girl was directed to his hotel and ushered up to his suite. Officials claims Kelly offered her $200 to take her clothes off and dance, to which she obliged.

She was also given VIP tickets to an R. Kelly show, and when the girl was seen in the front row her brother asked what had happened and was told about the situation.

Freeman says the alleged victim contacted his offices, stating that she and Kelly did not have sex. </s> R. Kelly just got hit with more sex crime charges ... this time in Minnesota, where prosecutors say the disgraced singer once paid a teenage girl to have sexual contact with him in his hotel room.

According to prosecutors, the alleged incident went down on July 11, 2001 in Minneapolis ... and they say the alleged victim was between the ages of 16 and 17.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says the alleged victim initially approached Kelly seeking an autograph, and claims Kelly paid her $200 to get naked and engage in sex acts with him.

Prosecutors are charging Kelly with two sex crimes ... engaging in prostitution with someone under 18, and hiring/offering/agreeing to hire someone for sexual contact.

Freeman says there was no sexual intercourse between Kelly and the alleged victim, but he claims there was "dancing and sexual contact." He admitted the case will be difficult to prosecute, given that the evidence is almost 20 years old. Prosecutors say the tip came through a Chicago tip line.

R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, just weighed in on the new charges ... tweeting, "give me a break. This is beyond absurd."

Kelly is currently in custody in New York, where he’s pled not guilty to 5 federal criminal charges including kidnapping and racketeering. The New York case is separate from Kelly’s 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court, which includes charges of child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice. Kelly is also fighting 10 charges of aggravated sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois. </s> Minnesota authorities are charging singer R. Kelly with two counts of prostitution and solicitation involving a girl under 18 for an alleged incident in 2001. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says Robert Kelly is charged in an incident involving a girl he met at a promotional event ahead of one of his performances.

Freeman says the girl was trying to get an autograph from Kelly and he gave her the autograph and a phone number, telling her to call him.

The prosecutor says when the girl called the number she was invited to Kelly’s hotel in Minneapolis, where the singer offered her $200 to take off her clothes and dance. He says Kelly took his clothes off and they danced together. Freeman said sexual contact occurred.

The girl was later offered VIP seating for Kelly’s concert, Freeman said. The girl told her brother about the incident when he asked her about the front-row seat, Freeman said.

Freeman says police investigated the allegation after the woman called a Chicago tip line in January, interviewing the woman and her brother.

“This kind of conduct, particularly juveniles, is simply unacceptable in the state of Minnesota and frankly everywhere,” Freeman reportedly said. “She was a juvenile at the time. We have special laws to protect our juveniles, and we are going to enforce them.”

Attorney Gloria Allred says she’s representing the woman in the new case. She told a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday that she was told the prostitution statute was the only one available to Minnesota authorities to charge Kelly in this case.

Allred says she will not name the woman. She commended the woman “for the courage she displayed in speaking to law enforcement.”

“As this new case demonstrates, it is not too late for there to be justice for even more victims of R. Kelly,” Allred said in a statement.

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, tweeted: “Give me a break. This is beyond absurd.”

Sexual misconduct allegations have swirled for years around Kelly, whom federal prosecutors said last month was “emboldened by his fame and the lack of any real consequences.” The charges come after two documentaries and a series of news articles about the accusations, as well as pleas from prosecutors who have urged new victims and witnesses to come forward.

Kelly also faces federal sex crime charges in New York and Illinois and sex assault and sex abuse charges in Cook County, Illinois.

The New York indictment alleges Kelly for two decades ran a racketeering enterprise comprised of “managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants and runners” who recruited women and girls for sex with Kelly and transported them around the country. It outlines allegations by five unnamed victims.

The federal indictment in the northern district of Illinois outlines allegations by five additional victims and accuses Kelly of having sex with five minors in the late 1990s and early 2000s, recording some of the abuse on multiple videos.

Kelly maintains his innocence. He is in federal custody in New York and it’s not clear when he will face arraignment in Minnesota. </s> R. Kelly was charged with soliciting a minor for sexual purposes and soliciting prostitution from someone under 18 today in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The alleged incident took place 18 years ago, in July 2001, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The StarTribune said it was unclear if Kelly would make an appearance there.

Mike Freeman, an attorney for the county, said the alleged incident occurred when a fan was trying to get an autograph from the singer before a concert. The lawyer claims Kelly gave the woman his phone number, and when she called him, he told her to go to his hotel room. “After some discussion she was offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance for him,” Freeman said, according to StarTribune. “After accepting the $200, she got naked and they proceeded to dance.”

They then had sexual contact, which the attorney said was not intercourse, and Kelly allegedly gave her VIP seats to his show. Afterwards, they stayed in contact and discussed a visit to Chicago, where Kelly lives. The newspaper did not disclose the victim’s name or age at the time of the incident, though she was likely between the ages of 16 and 18 based on the charges.

Freeman told TwinCities.com that the three-year statute of limitations doesn’t apply to Kelly since he did not remain in Minnesota.

R. Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, tells Rolling Stone that he considers the charged “absurd.” “The facts as known show this is just a cry for attention by the prosecutor,” he says.

“Some girl comes in and starts dancing and says he touched her? What’s she doing there dancing? It’s enough already,” Greenberg added to The Star Tribune. “The idea of a statute of limitations is after a certain amount of time, you don’t charge people. I’m not going to waste my time on that case at this point. Until [Freeman] can get Mr. Kelly to Minnesota, I’m not going to burn one brain cell on him.”

A representative for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment. The StarTribune said the office learned of the alleged incident via a tip line.

Last week, Kelly pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and sex trafficking in a Brooklyn federal court. The judge in the case denied Kelly’s bail, declaring him a flight risk. Kelly is also facing federal charges in Chicago for child pornography, enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to obstruct justice. </s> A Minnesota prosecutor charged singer R. Kelly on Monday with prostitution and solicitation related to an allegation that he invited a 17-year-old girl to his hotel room in 2001 and paid her $200 to dance naked with him.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is accused of soliciting the girl after meeting her before a concert in Minneapolis.

READ MORE: R. Kelly denied bail after pleading not guilty to sexual abuse charges

Freeman said the girl was trying to get an autograph from Kelly, and that the R&B performer gave her his signature and a phone number. When the girl called the number, she was invited to Kelly’s hotel. There she was offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance, Freeman said. He said Kelly took his clothes off and they danced together.

A criminal complaint said the girl said Kelly lay on his bed and the girl climbed on top of him “body to body.”

“According to Victim, the defendant was rubbing her body” and fondling himself, according to the complaint. “Victim stated that the defendant touched all over her body.”

The complaint said the girl attended Kelly’s concert “as a guest who did not have to pay,” and told her brother what had happened in Kelly’s hotel room.

The charges are felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison. Freeman said his office investigated after getting a tip from a Chicago tip line.

“We felt we had more than enough to charge based on her testimony and corroboration from her brother,” Freeman said. “I don’t like buying sex from minors, and I don’t think most other people do either.”

WATCH: R. Kelly pleads not guilty to New York sex trafficking charges: Attorney

Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg tweeted: “Give me a break. This is beyond absurd.” He did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

The criminal complaint didn’t name the accuser, and her attorney, Gloria Allred, said it would not be disclosed. She called the woman “a child victim of Mr. Kelly” and said she showed courage to come forward.

“As this new case demonstrates, it is not too late for there to be justice for even more victims of R. Kelly,” Allred said in a statement.

READ MORE: R. Kelly arrested in Chicago on federal sex trafficking charges

The charges are the latest legal problem for Kelly, who remains jailed in New York after pleading not guilty last week in federal court to charges that he sexually abused women and girls who attended his concerts there. He is accused of using his fame to recruit young women and girls into illegal sexual activity.

Kelly, 52, is also charged separately in Chicago with engaging in child pornography.
R. Kelly is charged with two counts for engaging in prostitution with a person under 18 in Minnesota.