Singer R. Kelly pleads not guilty to child porn
CHICAGO (CNN) -- As his client looked on in silence, an attorney for R&B singer R. Kelly entered of plea of not guilty to 21 charges of child pornography.
The judge set a discovery hearing for August 7.
Kelly, who is free on bond, did not talk during the brief hearing. Wearing a blue suit and red tie, he was flanked by a team of three attorneys.
Outside the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, dozens of supporters voiced their support for the singer, proclaiming his innocence with placards and T-shirts. A few supporters got into a shouting match with some critics of the performer.
Kelly, 35, was arrested in Florida earlier this month, after he was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 21 counts of child pornography, stemming from a videotape that allegedly shows the star performing sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl.
If convicted, Kelly could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined a maximum of $100,000.
Authorities said an investigation was launched February 1 after the Chicago Sun-Times received an anonymous videotape along with a claim that the man in the video was Kelly. The paper turned the tape over to police, which then had its sex crimes unit investigate.
Investigators interviewed more than 50 witnesses who went before the grand jury and identified the singer as the person in the video, authorities said. The FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, authenticated the tape, they said.
Cook County State Attorney Richard Devine said the grand jury indicted Kelly -- who is best known for his hit "I Believe I Can Fly" -- on seven counts of videotaping the sex acts, seven counts of producing the video, and seven counts of soliciting or enticing the girl into having the acts.
Authorities would not comment on the identity of the girl in the videotape.
