Kelly’s bond had been set at $1 million. According to Cook County jail records, a woman who described herself as a friend from the Chicago area paid $100,000, the standard 10 percent bail fee, to secure his release. Kelly walked through the jail gates around 5:30 p.m. local time. He was driven away in a black Mercedes van.
Earlier Monday, Kelly appeared in Cook County criminal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer, Steven Greenberg, asked the judge whether his client would have to settle child support payments he owes to post bond, or if the $100,000 would suffice. Judge Lawrence E. Flood said Kelly only needed $100,000.
Prosecutors in Chicago say they have identified four victims, including one teenage autograph seeker whom they say Kelly had sex with for months beginning when she was 16 years old.
Another was a girl he met at a restaurant, at her 16th birthday celebration.
A third was a 24-year-old hairdresser of his, who told prosecutors Kelly tried to force her to perform oral sex on him. Court documents said she reported that incident to law enforcement officials within two years of when it occurred and handed over a shirt she was wearing that day, which DNA analysis showed had his semen on it.
Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was arrested in 2002 on child pornography charges stemming from a tape that prosecutors said showed him having sex with and urinating on an underage girl. But in 2008, he was acquitted on all counts after the girl prosecutors said was in the tape refused to testify.
That same girl is now the fourth victim cited by prosecutors. They also have said they have a different tape of Kelly and the girl having sex, and Michael Avenatti, the celebrity lawyer who gave the video to law enforcement, has said it is a recording of a different incident than the earlier tape.
Kelly’s next court date will be March 22.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.