WATCH | Singer R. Kelly faces new sex abuse charges: Report

US singer R. Kelly was on Monday charged with allegedly soliciting sex from a minor at a Minneapolis hotel room 18 years ago.

The R&B star faces two charges relating to the incident - one for engaging in prostitution with a minor and the second for soliciting a minor for sexual purposes. 

These are the latest charges brought against the star, who was arrested in New York last month on several sexual misconduct charges.

According to Reuters, the I Believe I Can Fly hitmaker is accused of paying a 17-year-old girl $200 (nearly R3,000) to take off her clothes and dance for him, and then engaging in sexual contact. The activity reportedly did not include intercourse.

AFP reports that county attorney Mike Freeman told journalists the victim was attempting to obtain an autograph from Kelly at the time. She was given an autograph along with a phone number and was invited to his hotel.

The victim apparently told an older brother about the incident at the time, but "did not come forward until all these other allegations about R. Kelly" surfaced.

Responding to the claims on social media, the star's lawyer Steve Greenberg wrote: "Give me a break. This is beyond absurd."

The star has been the subject of sexual abuse allegations for nearly two decades, but has always denied them.

He was the subject of the docu-series, Surviving R Kelly, which features more than 50 interviews with women he allegedly sexually and physically abused.

Last month, Chicago prosecutors filed 11 sex-crime charges against the star, in what his lawyer said was a refiling of counts from an existing case.

He was already facing 10 charges, filed in February, for the alleged abuse of four women. He denied the charges and claimed his accusers were lying.