Chicago Prosecutor Urges R. Kelly’s Alleged Victims To Come Forward During Heartfelt Press Conference

A Chicago prosecutor is urging potential victims of R. Kelly to come forward and help bring him to justice.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx called the allegations made against Kelly in Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary “deeply, deeply disturbing” during a press conference on Tuesday, WGN-TV reports. Foxx stated that her office has already been in contact with the families of two alleged victims — both of whom are over the age of 18 — but empasized that cooperation from other victims or witnesses is essential in order for her office to properly investigate the claims.

“In order to have an investigation we have to have victims and witnesses who are willing to come forward with information,” Foxx said. “Allegations of domestic violence or sexual assault require someone to say what they’ve seen, heard or experienced.”

Foxx’s plea comes after reports that authorities in Fulton County, Georgia launched a criminal investigation into Kelly, who is alleged to have previously abused and otherwise mistreated women in an Atlanta-area home. While Foxx said that her office has not been in contact with Fulton County, they are willing to share any “relevant information” between their offices.

Pressure is on authorities in Florida as well, after Angelo Clary, who has alleged that his daughter Azriel Clary is being held captive by Kelly, publicly pushed for them to follow Fulton County's lead.

Lifetime’s six-part docu-series compiled decades of sexual misconduct allegations against Kelly. Foxx, a sexual assault survivor herself, said that she was left “sickened” after watching the series.

“I was sickened by the allegations. I was sickened as a survivor. I was sickened as a mother. I’m sickened as a prosecutor,” she said. “I worked in this office for a number of years, including in 2008, and so the allegations were not new to me, but I think listening to survivors, and giving a platform to survivors to be able to tell their stories, was heartbreaking.”

Foxx stated that her office has been in contact with Chicago police, who say that they have performed wellness checks at various locations linked to Kelly. She urged any victims or witnesses to come forward and contact the police or call her office at 773-674-6492.

“We cannot do anything related to these allegations without the cooperation of victims and witnesses and that is why I’m here today, to encourage anyone who has information to please come forward,” she said.

Kelly attorney Steve Greenberg slammed Foxx’s decision to hold a press conference in a statement to the Chicago Tribune.

“The idea that a prosecutor would solicit potential victims like a late-night personal injury attorney is offensive,” he said. “People know if they are a victim of a crime to contact the police. … Nobody has come forward and said they were the victim of any misconduct by Mr. Kelly because nobody has been.”

Kelly, who was acquitted on child pornography charges in 2008, has routinely denied the allegations against him. The 51-year-old singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, reportedly planned to sue Lifetime for airing the documentary, and is allegedly in the process of building a website called “Surviving Lies” to respond to his accusers’ claims. The site has not yet launched, and Facebook quickly deactivated the “Surviving Lies” page after the person or people behind it began publishing posts shaming Kelly’s accusers.

[Photo: Getty Images]