R. Kelija's daughter, Buku Abi, publicly made accusations about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered during her childhood.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Abi, whose real name is Joan Kelly, will star in a new documentary about the disgraced musician, which features "raw and emotional" interviews with Abi, her sister Ja Kelly and brother Robert Kelly Jr, as well as by their mother Dre Kelly, who was married to R. Kelly from 1996 to 2009.
In the first episode of the documentary "R. Kelly's Karma: A Daughter's Journey," Abi claims that the singer molested her when she was a child.
"He was my everything. For a long time I didn't even want to believe that it happened," said Abi in the first episode of the two-part series, reports People.
"I didn't know that even if he was a bad person, he would do something to hurt me. I was too scared to tell anyone. I was too scared to tell my mom," she added.
In another episode, she recalls how she "woke up while he was touching her," while pretending to be asleep, and says she first told her mother about it in 2009, when she was ten years old.
"I really feel that that moment completely changed my whole life and changed who I was as a person, extinguished the glow that I had. After I told my mom, we didn't go to him anymore; neither my brother Robert nor my sister Dža anymore him. And even today it's hard for me," she continued.
Buku said that after she finally told her mother what happened, they went to the police and filed an anonymous report.
"They couldn't prosecute him because I waited too long. So at that moment in my life I felt like I had said something for nothing," she pointed out.
In a statement to People, Kelly's attorney Jennifer Bonjean said the singer "vehemently denies" the allegations.
"His ex-wife made the same allegation several years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children and Families, but the allegations were not substantiated. And the filmmakers, whoever they are, have not contacted Mr. Kelly or his team to allow him to denies those painful claims," Bonzhan said.
After the 2019 episode of "Surviving R. Kelly" aired on Lifetime, Abi expressed her support for her father's victims in a statement, saying that she knows who and what her father is.
"I grew up in that house. I chose not to talk about him and what he does for my peace of mind. For my emotional state. And for my healing. I have to act in the way that is best for me," she said at the time.
Earlier this year, a federal appeals court in Chicago upheld R. Kelly's conviction and sentence of 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography and recruiting minors.
The singer was found guilty of six out of thirteen counts of possessing and producing child pornography and recruiting minors back in September. In February, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but will serve almost the entire sentence concurrently with the prison sentence he received last year for racketeering and human trafficking.
The additional sentence means Kelly will serve a total of 31 years in prison and will not be eligible for parole until she turns 80.
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