Citing “deeply, deeply disturbing” allegations in a documentary series detailing longstanding accusations of sexual misconduct against R&B superstar R. Kelly, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Tuesday called on any accusers to come forward.
At an unusual news conference, Foxx said her office cannot launch an effective prosecution without the cooperation of victims and witnesses.
Foxx revealed that the relatives of two missing women have contacted her office with concerns about possible contact with Kelly. A spokeswoman later said both women have been missing for three to four years.
“We’re in the process of trying to get information and conversations going with those who have information,” said Foxx, urging anyone with information about Kelly to contact police or call the prosecutors’ office at 773-674-6492.
Kelly’s local attorney, Steve Greenberg, blasted the top prosecutor’s public call for victims, saying none have come forward because Kelly has not done anything wrong.
“The idea that a prosecutor would solicit potential victims like a late-night personal injury attorney is offensive,” Greenberg told the Tribune. “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.”
Foxx said authorities need to hear from the victims themselves in order to properly investigate any sexual misconduct claims, acknowledging “the notion of having to come and publicly make allegations is incredibly daunting.”
“This isn’t one of those situations where it’s just forensics,” she said. “We need actual witnesses and victims to have the courage to tell their stories.”
The six-hour documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” began airing last week on the Lifetime channel and alleges that he has manipulated young women into joining a sex cult.
Foxx said the documentary deeply disturbed her.
“I was sickened by the allegations,” she told reporters at her downtown offices. “I was sickened as a survivor, I was sickened as a mother, I’m sickened as a prosecutor.”
During her successful 2016 campaign for office, Foxx revealed she was sexually abused by a family member when she was a young girl. She also said she was sexually assaulted by two older boys on her way to school as a second-grader.
Foxx held the news conference after her office was “inundated” by calls following the airing of the documentary, a spokeswoman said.
The prosecutor made the public plea amid reports that the controversial star is under criminal investigation in Georgia in the documentary’s aftermath.
The latest revelations come after Cook County prosecutors indicted R. Kelly on child pornography charges in 2002. That legal saga played out over six years before a jury acquitted him of all charges.
A video at the heart of the case purported to show Kelly having sex with a girl estimated to be as young as 13.
The Grammy winner, who was born Robert Kelly and raised on the South Side, has denied abusing women or running a cult.
While the allegations against Kelly have long been known, the singer has largely enjoyed widespread support, but that support seems to be eroding. A scheduled performance at the UIC Pavilion last year was canceled after public outcry, and the recent Lifetime series has helped bring the troubling allegations into the social-media spotlight.
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