DETROIT (WXYZ) — Action News is learning more about the Detroit investigation into new sexual assault allegations against singer R. Kelly.
The allegations center on a young woman who claims she had sex with Robert Kelly twice in Detroit in 2001 when she was only 13.
We have learned a Chicago detective contacted Detroit police on Jan. 16 regarding the investigation.
“The CPD was following up on sex assault allegations made against R&B artist R. Kelly as a result of a documentary about R. Kelly,” according to the Detroit police report.
The woman is now 30 years old. She claims she had sex with Kelly at a Detroit hotel and inside a Detroit recording studio.
And it gets worse. Quoting the police report, “The victim states that she also visited R. Kelly in Atlanta, Georgia between the ages of 14 through 18, and she alleges R. Kelly gave her herpes at the age of 17.”
It is the latest of many allegations. A Lifetime documentary titled "Surviving R. Kelly," exposed allegations of sex abuse and controlling behavior in January. Then in February, Gloria Allred stood with two women as they described being sexually abused by R. Kelly after a concert when they were only 15 and 16 years old.
“Your victims are now surrounding you and crying out for justice,” said Allred during a press conference.
However, a local attorney who once represented Kelly says the growing number of allegations should be dealt with cautiously.
“These attorneys are circling the waters, finding these victims out of the woodwork,” said Arnold Reed, a Southfield attorney. “We need to be cautious about that.”
Reed represented R. Kelly in the mid-90s. Action news asked him what perspective his work with Kelly provided as he heard about the most recent allegations.
“I am very restricted in what I can say I represented Robert Kelly in,” Reed said.
As for what R. Kelly has to say, he declared he is innocent of ever having sex with someone underage, then lost his composure on an interview with Gayle King recently on "CBS This Morning." That interview did happen before the most recent allegation. Kelly is currently in jail for failing to pay child support.
