Source: Michael Tullberg / Getty
There’s a new two-part docuseries featuring R. Kelly‘s estranged daughter, Buku Abi, called R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey, and during the series’ second episode, Abi claimed her father sexually abused her when she was eight or nine years old.
“I just remember waking up to him touching me,” Abi, born Joann Kelly, said during the episode, according to People. “And I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep.”
It’s the first time Abi has mentioned being abused by Kelly — who is serving a 20-year sentence, which he received in 2022 after he was convicted of three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex — but it’s not the first time she has spoken out publicly against the Pied Predator. In 2019, Abi called her father a “monster” in a lengthy and emotional statement, which she made after the release of the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries.
Unsurprisingly, Kelly’s attorneys are responding to Abi the same way they have all of Kelly’s victims, despite the fact that simply denying everything has not kept their client out of prison.
From Vulture:
In response, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean told People in a statement that Kelly “vehemently denies” these allegations. “His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded,” the statement said. “And the ‘filmmakers,’ whoever they are, did not reach out to Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these hurtful claims.”
In the documentary, Abi says she “didn’t even want to believe” that it happened and was initially too scared to tell anybody, but eventually reported the alleged abuse to her mother, Andrea Kelly, in 2009 as a 10-year-old. According to Abi, she and Andrea made a police complaint, but no charges were filed because she had “waited too long.” In a 2014 legal filing seeking sole custody of her and Kelly’s three children, Andrea alleged that Kelly had molested a preteen girl referred to as Jane Doe in 2009. The motion, which was obtained by WBEZ in 2020, claims that Jane Doe’s mother was personally informed that a DCFS caseworker “believed that the events occurred,” but “had no choice but to deem the matter unfounded based on the length of time between the events occurring and Jane Doe reporting the incident.”
Yeah — there’s a world of difference between “it didn’t happen” and “it probably did happen but it was reported too late.” Meanwhile, whether or not R. Kelly is, indeed, a “monster” is no longer up for debate. Hopefully, Abi finds peace and her father stays right where he belongs.
