victims including three under the age of 17. if convicted, he could face up to 70 years in prison. i want to get straight to cnn sara sidner also at the courthouse where r. kelly is set to appear. sara, what can you tell us about today's hearing? >> reporter: we just saw steve greenberg, the attorney for r. kelly walk into the courtroom. we also saw attorney michael avenatti who says he represents six people involved in this case. he is in there now. we also saw something that a lot of folks weren't expecting to seal, and that was we saw at least one of the families of one of the girls, the family that was in the surviving r. kelly series that told the story of women who had come forward saying they were sexually abused when they were minors or physically abused as adults. the clearry family is here in court. they said they have not been able to get in touch with their daughter for many years. extremely worried about her. they were in court and they