R. Kelly Is Released After Posting Bond

CHICAGO -- Grammy Award-winning singing star R. Kelly reported to Chicago authorities Friday to face child pornography charges and was released after posting bond, police said.

Kelly, whose first name is Robert, arrived in Chicago on a chartered jet from Florida, where he spent Wednesday night in jail after his arrest outside his rented home in Davenport, Fla.

Kelly and his lawyer, Edward Genson, showed up at the Cook County Criminal Courts building, but he was taken to a nearby police station to be fingerprinted and to have a mug shot taken, police said.

Genson was angry that the booking didn’t take place at the courthouse, but an officer at the station said, “He was processed like anyone else.”

Kelly, an R&B; singer whose songs have topped the charts for a decade, posted the required $75,000 bond, which is 10% of the $750,000 called for in his arrest warrant, and was released.

The singer, who lives in suburban Chicago, was arrested Wednesday and jailed overnight before being released Thursday. The Florida judge ordered that he have no contact with minors outside his family.

On Wednesday, Chicago authorities unveiled an indictment charging Kelly with 21 counts of child pornography over a videotape that allegedly shows him engaging in sex acts at his former Chicago home with an underage girl. He could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $100,000 if convicted.

Kelly has denied that the person on the tape is him. Genson said the girl pictured on the tape was not underage and that Kelly would plead innocent.