R. Kelly Accused of Bribing Gov. Employee to Issue Aaliyah Fake ID

New charges brought against disgraced singer R. Kelly allegedly reveal how he was able to marry late songstress Aaliyah Haughton when she was just 15 years old. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are accusing Kelly, 52, of bribing an Illinois government employee on Aug. 30, 1994 to issue Aaliyah a fake ID, so that he could legally marry her, according to the indictment filed on Thursday, obtained by PEOPLE.

Kelly allegedly had planned to use the fake ID to obtain a marriage license and show that Aaliyah was actually 18 years old and not 15, according to the indictment. Kelly was 27 at the time. The following day, Kelly married Aaliyah in a secret ceremony with falsified paperwork. Their marriage was later annulled with the help of Aaliyah’s family.

Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Details surrounding Kelly and Aaliyah’s relationship were explored on the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly. The series also shed light on the several other sexual misconduct allegations made against him.

The documentary’s first episode includes an emotional interview with former backup singer Jovante Cunningham, who met Kelly at age 14 and claims she directly witnessed his sexual encounters with underaged girls in the ’90s, including Aaliyah. “She truly was a beautiful young lady. We used to sneak Aaliyah out of the hotel room and take her all over the place,” says Cunningham. Aaliyah would go on to make it big with her debut Kelly-penned single “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.

” “Those were the good old days,” says the former backup singer, “but those are the things that also make you cry. ” During her interview, Cunningham breaks down recalling when she claims to have discovered her boss Kelly and Aaliyah had a sexual relationship. “We were out on the road with Aaliyah,” she says. “On a tour bus, there really aren’t many confined spaces.

When you get on the bus there are bunks and so these bunks have little curtains you can pull at night if you don’t want anybody to see you sleeping. ” “So it just so happened we were all laying in our bunks and the curtains are open, everybody’s communicating, laughing,” Cunningham continues. “When the [room] door flew open on the bus.