UNITED STATES—Musician R. Kelly has been charged with bribery 25 years after he married singer Aaliyah, who was only 15 years old at the time of their marriage.
A superseding indictment was filed on Thursday, December 5 where a grand jury charged Kelly with bribing an Illinois official to produce a fraudulent ID document for a “Jane Doe #1” on August 30, 1994. The fake ID was produced one day prior to his marriage to Aaliyah, which took place on August 31, 1994. At the time of the marriage, Kelly was 27. The certificate, which was leaked, listed Aaliyah’s age as 18.
Kelly was introduced to Aaliyah when she was only 12 years old, in an effort to help the young singer break into the music industry. The marriage was annulled months later because Aaliyah’s true age surfaced. The singer died in a plane crash in August 2001.
Kelly is currently facing several sexual abuse charges, where he denies any wrong doing. He is charged with allegedly heading up a racketeering operation that lasted two decades, in which he recruited women and under-age girls for illegal sexual activity, while promising to guide them to success in the music industry.
