美国国家公共电台 NPR R. Kelly Bond Set At $1 Million After Arrest On Charges Of Aggravated Sexual Abuse

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Allegations of sexual abuse have trailed R&B superstar R. Kelly for more than two decades. Today in Chicago, those claims caught up with him.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

KIMBERLY FOXX: Earlier today, Robert Kelly was indicted¹ before a Cook County grand jury on 10 counts of aggravated² criminal sexual abuse involving four victims.

CORNISH: That's Kimberly Foxx, the state's attorney for Cook County, at a news conference. She said the alleged³ incidents date back to 1998, and several of the victims were underage. A warning here - some listeners may find the nature of this conversation disturbing. We're going to bring in NPR's Colin Dwyer now to talk more about these charges. Colin, what more did we learn from prosecutors⁴ at the news conference?

COLIN DWYER, BYLINE⁵: Well, the news conference was a very straightforward⁶ affair. Kimberly Foxx briefly⁷, very bluntly laid out the charges against Kelly. She didn't take any questions afterward⁸. Frankly⁹, the entire thing couldn't have taken more than five minutes. But we did learn something about the crimes that he's been accused of. The 10 counts cover four different individuals. The earliest of those counts relate to incidents between 1998 and '99, and the most recent allegedly happened as recent as 2010. Foxx said that in three of those cases, the victims were under the age of 17. Now, it should be mentioned each count is considered a class 2 felony in Illinois, and that means each one of them could carry up to seven years in prison.

CORNISH: R. Kelly has been accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls for many years now, and this is not the first time he's faced charges. Give us the background.

DWYER: No, it isn't. In fact, as you mentioned, they date back more than two decades, these allegations, back to his very brief marriage with his protege, Aaliyah. She was 15 at the time. He was 27. That marriage was quickly annulled¹⁰. But years later in 2002, he was charged with more than a dozen counts of child pornography related to a video involving an underage girl. That case actually took six years to go to court, at which point Kelly was acquitted¹¹ on all counts. But at every step of the way, Kelly has steadfastly¹² denied that he hasn't done anything wrong.

CORNISH: Is it thought that this is the result, then, of the new documentary that's out about R. Kelly? It includes interviews with many of his accusers.

DWYER: I think that's part of it. So you're referring to the docuseries Lifetime - or the Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," and I think that's part of it. A number of women came forward on record with their experiences. But I think you can actually trace it back a couple of years to 2017 when BuzzFeed published an investigation¹³ alleging¹⁴ that he led something of a cult¹⁵ of young women around him.

But since the docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" was released earlier this year, the drumbeat has just gotten louder. A number of his former collaborators have disavowed him. That includes Lady Gaga. And he was also dropped by his record label. And even yesterday, two more women came forward against him alleging abuse that dated back to the '90s.

CORNISH: Getting back to the news of the day, what's going to happen next?

DWYER: Well, we know one thing for sure, and that is that R. Kelly is scheduled for a bond hearing tomorrow in Chicago. And he has already turned himself in tonight. Beyond that, though, it's kind of tough to say. Kelly and his legal team have made quite clear that they intend to fight this thing. And remember; the last time that this happened, the case took six years to go to trial. So we might be following this thing for quite some time.

CORNISH: That's NPR's Colin Dwyer. Colin, thank you.

DWYER: Thank you, Audie.

1 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

2 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 annulled   

v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去

参考例句：

• Their marriage was annulled after just six months. 他们的婚姻仅过半年就宣告取消。
• Many laws made by the former regime have been annulled. 前政权制定的许多法律被宣布无效。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

12 steadfastly   

adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝

参考例句：

• So he sat, with a steadfastly vacant gaze, pausing in his work. 他就像这样坐着，停止了工作，直勾勾地瞪着眼。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• Defarge and his wife looked steadfastly at one another. 德伐日和他的妻子彼此凝视了一会儿。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

15 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。