After several delays, Jury selection in the first phase of sex trafficking trial of R&B singer R. Kelly has begun in New York.

The Grammy Award-winning singer faces charges including child sexual exploitation, racketeering and bribery, charges he has pleaded not guilty.

A judge in federal court in Brooklyn will question potential jurors whether they can keep an open mind about R Kelly, two years after he was charged with abusing women and girls for nearly two decades. 

Following jury selection, the trial is due to begin on 18 August and could last several weeks. A conviction could result in decades in prison for the 54-year-old.

Cases have also been filed against him in Illinois and Minnesota.

Kelly, one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1990s and has been in custody since July 2019.

Prosecutors have also charged Kelly with bribing an Illinois official to obtain fake ID to marry the singer Aaliyah in 1994, when she was 15 and he was 27.

Some of the allegations against him were discussed in the 2019 documentary series Surviving R Kelly.