A Pennsylvania man claimed Sunday that he was cleaning an old video collection and found a tape that allegedly shows R.Kelly “sexually abusing underage African-American girls.”
Gary Dennis, who works in a nursing home, said at a press conference in Manhattan that he turned the video over to authorities. His lawyer, Gloria Allred, said they gave it to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
“It appears to me that there is an open investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District,”Allred said, noting going into detail about what the alleged tape shows.
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A spokesman for U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern District declined to comment.
R. Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said his client “denies that he is on any tape with underaged girls.”
“The doubt here is self-evident, with reporting that the man on the tape kinda, sorta looks like R Kelly,” Greenberg said. “That doesn’t make it him. It is not him. The larger question is what the authorities are doing about the Dennis’ possession of what they (the Dennis’) believe is child pornography in their tape collection. Are they going to be prosecuted?"
“It is obviously now just open season on R. Kelly, Greenberg continued. “It is irresponsible to continue to take the speculation of every Tom, Dick and Harry, and report it as if it is fact.”
During the press conference, Dennis recounted how he recently came across the video which he claims he “found in box of VHS tapes that I have had in my home for many years.”
“I love sports. And I was searching through the box to see which old tapes I wanted to keep, and which ones I wanted to throw out,” Dennis explained. “I noticed a sports tape, but it also had R. Kelly’s name on it. I thought it was a recording of an R. Kelly concert. I watched the sports on the tape, then continued to watch what I thought would be an R. Kelly concert.”
“To my shock and surprise, R. Kelly appeared to be on the tape, but not in concert. Instead, he was sexually abusing underage African-American girls,” Dennis said. “He was telling them what to do and what to say and it appeared that he was in control of the camera.”
Allred said Dennis and his wife “don’t know the answer of how it came into that box of many VHS tapes he has over the years.”
“There had been friends who gave him sports tapes,” Allred said. “He has no idea. He’s tried to think about it and...no idea. These are very old tapes.”
“Mr. Dennis has never met Mr. Kelly, has never had any communication with Mr. Kelly, and has never attended an R. Kelly concert,” Allred said.
She said the Dennises assumed the girls were underage because they “were not fully developed.”
Kelly faces charges in Chicago related to alleged sexual abuse of three minors. Kelly is also accused of attacking his hair stylist in attempted forced oral sex.
Chicago Prosecutors said in recent court documents that there is a recording of one illicit encounter. “In the video, the victim repeatedly says she is 14 years old and Robert Kelly is seen penetrating the victim orally and vaginally, and the victim performs oral sex on Robert Kelly,” according to this filing.
Allred said she doesn't believe the tape Dennis found matches the tape described by law enforcement.
Prosecutors in Chicago have also accused Kelly of picking up one a 16-year-old victim at his 2008 child pornography trial.
Kelly, who at the time had been charged with making a sex tape with a 13-year-old, was acquitted in that case.
“We have heard that there may be many VHS tapes in circulation that...depict Mr. Kelly sexually abusing underage girls,” Dennis also said. “We hope that anyone who may have possession of such tapes will contact Ms. [Allred] and turn over the tapes immediately.”
“I can’t get the memory out of my head,” Dennis said of his discovery. “I just can’t. It stays with me constantly.”
