A US man has claimed to have found a video tape allegedly showing R. Kelly “sexually abusing underage African-American girls.”<\/p>\n
Gary Dennis told reporters that he handed the tape to authorities after discovering it at his house.<\/p>\n
R. Kelly was charged last month with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four alleged victims, three of whom were minors.<\/p>\n
The R&B artist has denied appearing in the video, and all other charges.<\/p>\n
If convicted, he faces three to seven years in prison on each count.<\/p>\n
Mr Dennis, a nursing home worker, said he came across the footage whilst sorting through a box of old video tapes.<\/p>\n
He played one tape with a recording of a football match after finding it had been labelled “R. Kelly”. He expected it to have been recorded over with an old concert.<\/p>\n
Instead it contained sexual abuse, he alleges.<\/p>\n
Whilst not going into detail, Mr Dennis said he saw “[R. Kelly] telling them what to do and what to say, and it appeared that he was in control of the camera.”<\/p>\n
After the discovery he said he had a “moral duty” to notify law enforcement and contacted Gloria Allred, a lawyer representing women who claim to have been sexually abused by R. Kelly.<\/p>\n
The tape was then turned over to the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.<\/p>\n
Ms Allred said Mr Dennis had no personal connection to the R&B singer and had “no idea” how or when he came to possess the videotape, adding that friends had given him tapes of sporting events in the past.<\/p>\n
She said the tape appears to show a separate incident from those previously attributed to R. Kelly, but conceded that she could not be “100% certain” the man on the tape was him.<\/p>\n
“The doubt here is self-evident,” said Steve Greenberg, R. Kelly’s lawyer.<\/p>\n
“It is not him. The larger question is what the authorities are doing about the Dennis’ possession of what they believe is child pornography in their tape collection.”<\/p>\n
“It is obviously now just open season on R. Kelly,” Mr Greenberg continued.<\/p>\n
“It is irresponsible to continue to take the speculation of every Tom, Dick and Harry, and report it as if it is fact.”<\/p>\n
R. Kelly was taken into custody on Wednesday after failing to pay $161,000 (\u00a3122,000) in child support to his former wife, Andrea Kelly, and their three children. He was released on Friday after paying the debt.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month he gave\u00a0an explosive interview with CBS This Morning<\/a>\u00a0where he tearfully and angrily denied the allegations against him.<\/p>\n “I didn’t do this stuff. This is not me,” he said, adding that he is “fighting for my life”.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"