LIVE: Gloria Allred news conference on new allegations against R. Kelly https://t.co/XwC4T8yRw8 https://t.co/j8NcoAqTbZ
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) March 10, 2019
Attorney Gloria Allred stepped forward with new client Gary Dennis and his wife Sally on Sunday, claiming that he found tape apparently showing singer R. Kelly abusing underage black girls.
“These were not women,” Allred told reporters in a press conference Sunday afternoon in New York City. “These were girls.”
She described the video as apparently being from the 1990s. Allred said they reported and handed this over to the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York. Gary and Sally Dennis are from Pennsylvania, however. Allred declined to elaborate why she went to New York prosecutors for this, and simply said it was “appropriate.” She said the location of the video remained unclear.
Mr. Dennis’ statement pic.twitter.com/i1DqfsLDiy
— Drew Wilder (@DrewWilderTV) March 10, 2019
Dennis told reporters in a prepared statement that he found the footage when reviewing his old VHS sports tapes to see which he wanted to keep, and which he wanted to discard. He found one with Kelly’s name on it, he said. But it didn’t depict a concert. It showed the singer abusing several underage African American girls, said Dennis. Kelly was the only man on the tape, Allred said.
“I was disgusted and horrified when I saw that,” Dennis said. “I have a daughter and nobody’s daughter should ever be subjected to anything like that.” According to Allred, Dennis isn’t sure how he got the tape in the first place, though she mentioned he often got tapes from friends. He has never met the singer, she said. Gary Dennis has never attended Kelly’s concerts, or communicated with him, she said. His wife doesn’t know the singer either.
Sex tapes surfaced online and on streets amid Kelly’s 2002-2008 child pornography case, according to an MTV report years ago. This included footage that purportedly showed him abusing an underage girl. He was acquitted in the case, however.
Prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois have newly charged and alleged that Kelly sexually assaulted a woman, and three underage girls over the years. DNA evidence buttressed two allegations, and video supported a third, said authorities. Allred’s office, in a statement announcing the press conference, said the footage provided by Dennis seemed to be different from the one apparently linked to this ongoing criminal case.
Kelly told CBS’s Gayle King in an interview published this week that he had never done anything illegal when it came to women. His tearful, loud denials garnered a substantial share of mockery on social media, but at least some of his supporters seem willing to fork over the cash to help him. Valencia Love said she paid the $100,000 for his bond on the new 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The singer was arrested again this Wednesday for alleged failure to pay $161,663 in child support. He was released again after it was paid off, apparently on his behalf. Who handed over the money remains unclear, according to PEOPLE.
For years, Kelly faced allegations of preying on young girls. Vibe reported on a marriage license in the names of Kelly and the teenage singer Aaliyah. The document listed the songstress’ age as 18. She was actually 15 at the time the license was dated on August 31, 1994.
Kelly was indicted in 2002 for the aforementioned child porn case after an infamous tape allegedly depicted him sexually abusing a teen girl. He was acquitted in 2008. Her family members were split four to three at trial over whether it was really her.
Note: Updated with information from the press conference, and context from an MTV report.
Note (09/28/2020): A link to The Chicago Sun-Times expired. It concerned the marriage license of Kelly and Aaliyah. We replaced the information from that article with links to Vibe and GQ.
[Mugshot via Cook County]
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