Michael Avenatti is convinced R. Kelly's alleged victims will receive justice.
Shortly after Kelly was formally charged with 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse, Avenatti appeared on SiriusXM’s The Karen Hunter Show to discuss the high-profile case. The disgraced singer received the charges about a week after Avenatti gave prosecutors a VHS tape that purportedly showed Kelly having sex with an underage girl. Avenatti told Hunter he had been quietly working on the case for the past 10 months and now represents multiple clients who are seeking justice against Kelly. The attorney said he is working pro bono for a total two victims, two parents, and two informants who were a part of Kelly's inner circle.
"I'm not charging anything for the work that I've done because this is an outrageous case and it's an outrageous abuse of power, targeting some of the most vulnerable people in our society," Avenatti told Hunter. "Mainly young African American girls, many of whom are from the inner city. And I've been very moved by it because I have two daughters on my own, 14 and 16, and as a father and listening to some of these parents describe what has transpired and some of these victims, I was outraged by it."
The lawyer went on to say that the evidence against Kelly is "significant" and that he would be surprised if the singer escaped conviction.
"I'm very satisfied today as a father, as a lawyer, as a guy that believes in right and wrong and justice, that the day of reckoning has come for R. Kelly. He will, he will not survive this," he said. "The evidence is significant. It is insurmountable and I'd be very surprised if after he is convicted, if he ever walks another day free for as long as he lives, and frankly that would be justice in this case because this guy is a predator who is preyed on, again, some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society and he deserves to go away for a very long time."
Avenatti also said Kelly will have another jury trial, but insisted it will play out much differently than the one in 2008, when Kelly was found not guilty on child pornography charges.
"This isn't 2008 and they effectively rigged that trial Karen," he alleged. "One of the things that we've uncovered is there's substantial evidence of obstruction of justice that was carried out not just by R. Kelly, but by his enablers, and by the way, all these folks around R. Kelly that helped him carry out what he's carried out over the last 25 years, because he didn't do this on his own [...]."
While speaking to reporters Friday, Avenatti sent a message to Kelly's alleged "enablers," including his agents, managers, and attorneys: "I will not rest until each of you is brought to justice. We will uncover evidence relating to your participation in these crimes."
Avenatti also claimed he had another incriminating video of Kelly and is in the process of obtaining a third.
