Two women have testified in front of a grand jury in Chicago, saying R. Kelly engaged in sexual acts with minors. According to TMZ, one of the women handed over physical evidence.
The outlet’s sources shared that one purported victim testified she was underage when she had sex with Kelly in Illinois between 2008 and 2010. The nature of the physical evidence she provided is unknown.
The second woman told the grand jury she knew of sexual rendezvous the singer had with underage girls, and also verified some specifics from Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries.
According to TMZ, as many as a dozen accusers have testified in front of the grand jury since it was assembled, following the news that attorney Michael Avenatti had obtained a new sex tape. Avenatti said he received the 45-minute VHS on Feb. 14, which purportedly shows Kelly having sex with a different girl, also thought to be 14 years old. Avenatti then handed the tape over to Chicago’s Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx.
Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg has said he wasn’t made aware of a grand jury.
In addition to uncovering a new tape, Avenatti also accused Kelly of tampering with evidence, witness intimidation, physical threats, and more to land a not-guilty verdict for his 2008 child pornography trial.
Avenatti announced the news earlier this week, writing on Twitter, “We have now uncovered how R Kelly was able to gain his acquittal in 2008: We have discovered substantial evidence that he and certain enablers engaged in systematic witness intimidation, evidence tampering, physical threats, and payments to witnesses. They rigged the trial.”
