A grand jury has been convened in Chicago following the recent emergence of a new R. Kelly sex tape with an underage girl.
News of the grand jury comes after attorney Michael Avenatti announced last week that he had handed over the tape to the State’s Attorney. The Cook County State’s Attorney would not confirm the grand jury proceedings or the existence of any new investigation. The office had previously encouraged any alleged victims of R. Kelly to come forward.
CNN confirmed that they watched the VHS tape that appears to show Kelly having sex with a girl who refers to her body parts as 14 years old. Avenatti is representing a man who worked closely with Kelly and has agreed to be a whistleblower against the Grammy award-winning singer.
“My client knows the identity of the girl and R. Kelly. He identified the two of them on the videotape. He worked for and has known R. Kelly for decades and he met the girl on a number of occasions,” Avenatti said.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, told CNN on Monday he had not been notified of a grand jury.
“We are unaware of any new information involving Mr. Kelly,” Greenberg said. “We have not been contacted by anyone. We have not been informed about any new information by anyone and we have not been contacted by law enforcement.”
“No one from law enforcement has contacted me or my client regarding any potential investigation,” Greenberg added. “Certainly they are aware that I am representing him so if there were any reason to speak to him I would suspect they would have reached out to me.”
“Grand jury proceedings are, by law, supposed to be secret, so to the
extent people are commenting on what may or may not be going on todayare possibly violating the law. Still, I can tell you that I am unaware of any proceedings,” said Greenberg.
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