US singer R. Kelly has been charged with sexual abuse. The cases date from 1998 to 2010 and center around four partially minor victims, as Chicago's prosecutor Kim Foxx said on Friday. Three of the victims were between 13 and 16 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

According to the prosecutor, formal charges have been made against the musician in ten points, nine of which relate to the abuse of under 17-year-old victims.

Kelly has been confronted for decades with the allegation of abusing underage women. In 2008, he was acquitted of child pornography charges six years after the indictment.

The Chicago Tribune, citing court documents, reported that a warrant had been issued for the 52-year-old singer. R. Kelly should therefore appear on 8 March in court.

Victim Lawyer: "It's over"

According to the victim's lawyer Michael Avenatti, the accusations that have come to light in the meantime have been substantiated by a surfaced video showing the singer having sex with a minor. Avenatti had already announced a few days ago that he had handed the video to the investigators in Kelly's city of Chicago. The singer dismissed the allegations about his lawyer.

"After continuing sexual abuse and sexual assault of under-25s for over 25 years, the day of reckoning has come for R. Kelly," wrote Avenatti at Twittter. "It's over."

In early January, Lifetime broadcasts a six-hour documentary in which several women accused the singer of having sex with girls under the age of 16. Other witnesses assure that the musicians known from hits like "I Believe I Can Fly" have kept women as well as sex slaves. As a consequence, the record label RCA announced the collaboration with Kelly. The allegations go back to the 90s, Kelly has repeatedly denied.