R. Kelly’s notorious Chicago-based music studio is back in the headlines after a woman claimed she was brought to the location and gang raped by three men.
The 31-year-old woman was hospitalized Thursday after being picked up by paramedics shortly before 4 a.m. on a West Side street two blocks from the studio that the embattled singer vacated earlier this year.
A police spokeswoman confirmed to the New York Daily News that, according to the alleged victim’s statement, she met three men after leaving a local bar and got into their car and accompanied them to “what she believed was a music studio.” Soon after arriving at the location, she claims the group assaulted her, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The woman said she was able to flee the location and call 911 after leaving the building. She was treated at Rush Hospital, police said.
Kelly vacated his music studio in February, after he was accused of illegally using it as a living space and was hit with 66 building code violations. A judge placed a strict curfew on the use of the premises.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Melvin Sims, denied that the space was being used as a residence despite the multiple bedrooms and bathrooms on site.
“A facility on the premises does not a residence make. A couch on the premises does not make it a living room,” he told CBS Chicago. “Obviously, you have attorneys and judges, and we are interpreting how a creative spaces is to be used, and we’re probably the least creative people inclined to do that.”
The Grammy-winning star is currently facing numerous charges for sexually abusing four women. He has denied all allegations leveled against him.
