After reportedly turning over a second video to Chicago prosecutors just last week (Feb. 14), lawyer Michael Avenatti claims that a third tape of R. Kelly allegedly having sex with an underage girl exists. Avenatti took to Twitter on Saturday (Feb. 16) to say the he was in the process of retrieving the clip and turning it over to law enforcement.
“Update: We have become aware of the existence of a third tape, that allegedly shows further acts of sexual abuse of an underage girl by R Kelly, which we are presently working to recover and turnover to law enforcement,” he wrote. “Due to the importance of ensuring justice is finally done in this matter and because we are deeply concerned that Mr. Kelly has not been held accountable for his sexual abuse of young African-American girls, whom are especially vulnerable, we have done so on a pro bono basis,” Avennati said in a statement last week, according to Newsweek.
The celebrity lawyer also shared what he claimed was evidence of alleged dirty tactics used by Kelly and his team to secure an aquittal during the singer’s 2008 trial on child pornography charges; that case revolved around a 27-minute sex tape with an underage girl and ended with a jury finding Kelly not guilty on all 14 counts. “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,” Avennati claimed. “They rigged the trial.”
Alleged victims continue to come forward following Lifetime’s haunting Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, which highlighted the decades of the R&B singer’s alleged sexual abuse of women and manipulation of underage women. CNN confirmed that they have viewed a graphic 45-minute VHS tape of a man appearing to be R. Kelly performing sexual acts on a girl who refers to herself as a 14-year-old.
Billboard has reached out to Kelly’s attorney for comment.
Update: We have become aware of the existence of a third tape, that allegedly shows further acts of sexual abuse of an underage girl by R Kelly, which we are presently working to recover and turnover to law enforcement.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) February 16, 2019
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.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) February 18, 2019