A Pennsylvania man says he found a videotape that appears to show R. Kelly sexually abusing underage girls. Gloria Allred, who is representing the man, says she is not “100 percent certain” the man in the video is indeed Kelly, but if it is, the singer could face additional charges.
According to the Associated Press, Gary Dennis, a nursing home assistant, was cleaning out old VHS tapes in his house when he discovered a video with a recorded sports game beheld something far more sinister.
Per Buzzfeed News:
“I thought it was a recording of an R. Kelly concert,” Dennis told reporters. “To my shock and surprise, R. Kelly appeared to be on the tape — but not in concert. Instead, he was sexually abusing underage African-American girls.”
Dennis said that the man on the tape appeared to be in control of the camera and as directing the girls on “what to do and what to say,” he said. “In addition, he was engaging with these children in sexually abusive acts.”
Dennis reportedly handed the tape over to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He and Allred held a press conference for reporters on Sunday; Allred, who represents several women who allege Kelly sexually abused them, said her client does not know Kelly and has no idea how the tape ended up in his possession. “There have been friends that gave him sports tapes because they know he likes sports,” she said on Sunday. “He has no idea, he’s tried to think about it but there’s no idea. These are very old tapes.”
Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, told Buzzfeed News his client had no knowledge of the tape. “The doubt here is self-evident, with reporting that the man on the tape kinda, sorta looks like R Kelly. That doesn’t make it him. It is not him,” Greenberg told the outlet in a text.
It is certainly a strange story, but whether or not the videotape does show Kelly, it’s not like it’ll do much to lessen his legal woes. In February, Kelly was charged in Illinois with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and he is reportedly under investigation on similar charges in several other states. Kelly claims he is innocent, but is being targeted because of his “big heart.” Well then.