New Alleged R. Kelly Tape Shows Singer with Underage Girl
Prosecutors are looking to indict R. Kelly following the discovery of a newly-uncovered sex tape.
According to CNN, the VHS videotape appears to show the R&B superstar having sex with a girl who refers to her body parts as 14 years old. The tape was submitted last weekend to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago by a man who is referred to as a “whistleblower against Kelly.”
“My client knows the identity of the girl and R. Kelly,” said the man’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti. “He identified the two of them on the videotape. He worked for and has known R. Kelly for decades and he met the girl on a number of occasions.”
In response to press inquiries, attached is a stmt regarding our work on the R. Kelly matter since April, including the discovery of new critical video evidence establishing his guilt. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this predator is brought to justice. pic.twitter.com/D0dGFzgXlX
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) February 14, 2019
CNN has viewed the newly-unearthed footage, which lasts 42 minutes and 45 seconds. It features scenes in a living room and another in a bedroom. A naked man who appears to be Kelly is seen performing multiple sex acts with the girl, who is heard calling him “daddy” multiple times.
They both refer to her “14-year-old p***y.” Six times the girl refers to her genitalia as 14 years old. In the explicit footage, the man asks the girl to urinate before he urinates on her.
The video mirrors some of the alleged acts for which Kelly was arrested for child pornography in 2002. He was acquitted six years later.
According to Avenatti, the new video has never previously been publicly disclosed. “Importantly, this conclusive video evidence is not the same evidence previously seen and used in connection with the prior criminal matter in which Mr. Kelly was charged nor does it depict the same instances of sexual assault,” he said. “Further, the time frame of the sexual assaults depicted in the video is within the Illinois statute of limitations.”
The videotape may soon lead to Kelly’s indictment and arrest in Illinois, a senior law-enforcement official tells The New Yorker.
Steve Greenberg, Kelly’s attorney, was unaware of the newly-surfaced footage. “We are unaware of any new information involving Mr. Kelly,” he told CNN. “We have not been contacted by anyone. We have not been informed about any new information by anyone and we have not been contacted by law enforcement.”
The #MuteRKelly movement continues to grow following the airing of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries, which chronicles over two decades of the singer’s alleged sexual abuse and misconduct.