22 Feb 2019

R Kelly faces fresh claims of sexual abuse

12:58 pm on 22 February 2019

Two more women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the R&B singer R Kelly.

(L-R) Rochelle Washington, attorney Gloria Allred and Latresa Scaff display photos taken on the night they are discussing at the press conference as two new accusers of R. Kelly misconduct come forward

(L-R) Rochelle Washington, attorney Gloria Allred and Latresa Scaff display photos taken on the night they are discussing at the press conference as two new accusers of R. Kelly misconduct come forward Photo: AFP

Rochelle Washington and Latresa Scaff told a news conference they were given drink and drugs at an after-concert party in Baltimore in the 1990s.

They said the singer then cornered them in a hotel room and demanded sex.

Kelly, 52, has been accused of decades of sexual abuse against women. He has never been convicted and denies all the allegations.

Addressing journalists in New York, the two women said they were teenagers when Kelly's security staff picked them out of a concert audience. They were unable to give the exact year but said it was either 1995 or 1996.

Ms Scaff, 40, said that at the party they were given cocaine, marijuana and alcohol and invited to wait for the singer in his hotel room.

Once there, they were told that he was about to arrive and that they should pull up their dresses, she said.

The singer arrived with his penis exposed, Ms Scaff said, and invited the girls to a threesome.

Ms Washington, now 39, refused and went to the bathroom while Ms Scaff stayed and had sex with him "even though I did not have the capacity to consent" because of the drink and drugs, she added.

Ms Scaff said she had decided to come forward "because of all of the other victims".

The two women are represented by high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred who said they would be speaking to the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Thursday.

Ms Allred also represents several other women who have made allegations against Kelly.

Referring to the star she said: "You have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. You have been able to get away with your predatory misconduct for far too long."

R Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has faced claims of sexual abuse for more than 20 years.

A recent documentary, Surviving R Kelly, shown on the US channel Lifetime, contained detailed accounts of his alleged physical and emotional abuse of women.

It claimed the singer ran an "abusive cult" in which he allegedly kept women captive.

Kelly's lawyers dismissed the documentary as "another round of stories" being used to "fill reality TV time".

- BBC

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