R Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, some involving underage victims, according to court documents filed in Illinois. 

For years, the singer has faced a slew of allegations of sexual abuse from women and underage girls but has only appeared in front of a judge once.

The new charges were filed in Cook County and include nine counts that specify the victim was between 13 and 16. The alleged crimes involve four victims and span from 1998 to 2010, the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper reports.

The singer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, is due to appear in court in Chicago, where he resides, on March 8, a Cook County clerk said.

Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx said he faces three to seven years in prison on each count.

High-profile lawyer Michael Avenatti is representing clients linked to Kelly and said his office had uncovered previously unreleased footage of Kelly having sex with a young girl, which the lawyer gave to the Cook County State's Attorney.

In a tweet on Friday, he said: "After 25 years of serial sexual abuse and assault of underage girls, the day of reckoning for R. Kelly has arrived."

Kelly has faced allegations of sexual abuse for more than 20 years and was recently the subject of a Lifetime documentary called Surviving R Kelly.

It is a six-part series in which women share their allegations of sexual and physical assault. He has denied the allegations.

Following the broadcast of Surviving R Kelly in the US, Lady Gaga apologised for working with the singer.

R Kelly's record label, Sony BMG, has parted ways with him.

On Thursday (February 21), he faced fresh sexual abuse claims from two women who accused him of sexually assaulting them as teens.

The women, Latresa Scaff and Rochelle Washington, told journalists in New York they met Kelly at an after-party following a concert in Baltimore in the 1990s, and that he gave them alcohol and drugs before cornering them in his hotel room and demanding sex.

Kelly has faced sexual abuse allegations for years but has only appeared in front of a judge once, in 2008, when he was accused of making child abuse images by filming sexual encounters.

Last night, the singer was placed in handcuffs as he entered a Chicago police station.

His lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said that the Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx had succumbed to public pressure and that his client is an innocent man.

His lawyer said: "I think all the women are lying."

Mr. Kelly is strong, he's got a lot of support and he's going to be vindicated on all these charges - one by one if it has to be" he continued.