A man in Pennsylvania has handed authorities a video tape that allegedly shows R Kelly abusing underage girls, after discovering it in his own collection.
Gary Dennis, an assistant at a nursing home, says he was cleaning out a box of old VHS tapes at home when he found the footage. He claims he initially believed that the tape showed Kelly in concert and he does not know how it came to be in his possession.
Appearing at a press conference in New York, Dennis was joined by lawyer Gloria Allred who says the tape appears to show a separate incident from the 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse that Kelly currently faces, although she is not “100% certain” that the man in the tape is the singer.
Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg also claims that “it is not him,” and says the 52-year-old singer “denies that he is on any tape with underaged girls”.
While Mr Dennis is unsure how the tape ended up in his possession, he says that it may have come from a friend because it also features a recording of a sports game.
“To my shock and surprise, R Kelly appeared to be on the tape but not in concert,” Dennis said of the tape.
“Instead he was sexually abusing underaged African American girls. I was disgusted and horrified when I saw that.”
Responding to the discovery, Greenberg said authorities needed to ask “what are these people doing possessing what they obviously believe is child pornography in their VHS collection”.
It comes after Kelly pled not guilty to 10 counts of sexual abuse last month, before being released from jail on $100,000 bail.
Claims of Kelly’s sexual activity with underage girls have resurfaced since the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R Kelly was aired in January. Buzzfeed had previously reported in 2017 that Kelly ran a sex cult. He has constantly denied all wrongdoing.