Judge sets a $ 1 million bail for R Kelly

R & B singer R Kelly appeared in the Chicago court, where a judge set a $ 1 million bail (£ 766,000).

The judge at Saturday's hearing, Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., is the same judge who presided over the bail hearing of empire actor Jussie Smollett earlier this week.

Kelly was charged on Friday with 10 counts of serious badual badault involving four women, including three aged 13 to 17 at the time.

R Kelly is photographed while booking at a Chicago Police Station (Chicago Police Service / AP)

The alleged attorney of Cook County, Kim Foxx, said the alleged violence dates back to 1998 and extends over more than a decade.

Kelly was tried and acquitted of child badgraphy charges in 2008 and has always denied badual misconduct.

The 52-year-old Grammy winner's lawyer said Friday he was confident that Kelly would be justified.

Judge Fitzgerald Lyke Jr said at Saturday's hearing that the amount of bail was $ 250,000 for each of the four individuals accused of badual abuse.

He described the allegations against Kelly as "disturbing" at the hearing.

The singer was staring at the floor while the judge was speaking and looking downcast.

Kelly had spent the night in jail before being taken to court.

He held his hands behind his back and said to the judge, "How are you?"

Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said his client was not at risk of absconding and told the judge, "Unlike the song, Mr. Kelly does not like to steal."

The bond requires that Kelly post $ 100,000 (£ 76,000) to be released.

A prosecutor told the judge that Kelly had met one of the four accusers during his 2008 lawsuit on charges of child badgraphy.

The two men met when he gave her an autograph. The alleged abuse allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2010.

The accuser gave the police a jersey that bore Kelly's DNA, said the prosecutor.

Kelly has been accused for decades of raping girls and underage women as virtual slaves.