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Grand jury reportedly convened to consider latest R Kelly abuse allegations
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 18 February 2019
The Cook County State Attorney’s office last week secretly convened a grand jury to consider new allegations of sexual abuse that have been made against R Kelly, according to gossip site The Blast. Which is a development that could result in the musician facing new criminal charges in relation to the abuse accusations.
Although there has been plenty of reporting over the years about the various allegations made against Kelly, the spotlight has fallen back on the testimony of his accusers in recent months – of course – following the screening of the ‘Surviving R Kelly’ documentary by the Lifetime network in the US.
Kelly’s defenders continue to point out that – while there have been plenty of lawsuits in relation to the abuse allegations – the musician has only faced criminal charges once and in that case he was found not-guilty.
In the wake of ‘Surviving R Kelly’, supporters of his alleged victims called on prosecutors to take new action. This led to Kim Foxx – the State Attorney of Cook County, which includes Kelly’s home town of Chicago – calling on those alleged victims to come forward.
Last week an attorney called Michael Avenatti told reporters that he had approached Foxx’s department on behalf of a client and that, among other things, he had provided the State Attorney’s office with “a VHS videotape [showing] Mr Kelly engaging in multiple sexual assaults of a girl underage”.
According to sources who have spoken to The Blast, the grand jury was convened last week in response to the evidence submitted by Avenatti. It is thought members of the grand jury will view the tape and then likely question the attorney’s client, who is reportedly an ex-employee of Kelly and who says he knows the identity of the girl in the recording.
Meanwhile, another lawyer has told the Associated Press that she believes that it may be one of her clients who appears in the video. LA-based lawyer Gloria Allred also said that she had contacted police outside the jurisdiction of Cook County about her concerns.
It remains to be seen if any new criminal charges do now follow. For his part, Kelly continues to deny all the allegations made against him, while his lawyer told reporters last week: “We have not been informed about any new information by anyone and we have not been contacted by law enforcement”.
