CONTENT WARNING: The following article discusses alleged sexual assault.
R. Kelly is facing further sexual assault allegations with a new lawsuit filed against him for alleged abuse, the transmission of a sexual disease and false imprisonment.
As The New York Times reports, Texan woman Faith A. Rodgers has accused Kelly of initiating “unwanted sexual contact” (among other things) last year, when she was 19 years old.
According to the lawsuit, Kelly met her after a concert in San Antonio. They communicated over phone in the months following before Kelly flew her out to New York.
While there, Kelly allegedly engaged in “non-consensual oral and vaginal intercourse” and failed to tell Rodgers that he was infected with herpes, which she later contracted.
The pair remained in a relationship for about a year but Rodgers says Kelly “routinely engaged in intimidation, mental, verbal and sexual abuse, during and after sexual contact”.
During that time, Kelly allegedly recorded Rodgers during sex without her consent and locked her in secluded areas in an attempt to control her.
“Unfortunately, the facts and background of this case are not unique,” the lawsuit says. “This is a run-of-the-mill R. Kelly sexual abuse case.”
Kelly is no stranger to allegations of this nature. He has been accused in the past of running an “abusive sex cult” and of imprisoning women in his homes.
Last month, he responded to a Time’s Up campaign asking corporations and venues to sever ties with him.
Just last week, Spotify removed R. Kelly from all of its playlists as part of a new ‘hate content and hateful conduct’ policy.
