THE LOOP — Cook County prosecutors have heard from two families of missing women concerned about their ties to singer R. Kelly, and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx urged anyone with information to come forward.
Foxx called a news conference Tuesday in the wake of a six-part Lifetime network documentary on the Chicago native. “Surviving R. Kelly” documents decades of Kelly’s involvement with underage girls.
On Tuesday, multiple news organizations reported Kelly is being investigated in Fulton County, Georgia following the sex abuse allegations in the documentary.
Foxx said she watched the documentary, and called it “deeply disturbing.” Asked if her press conference meant she had opened an investigation in Cook County, she indicated it had not.
“What it means is, in order for us to have an investigation, is that we need to have victims and witnesses who are willing to come forth with whatever information they have,” she said.
“There is nothing that can be done to investigate these allegations without the cooperation of both victims and witness,” she said. “We cannot seek justice without you.
“… “I’m here today to encourage victims of sexual assault or domestic violence related to these allegations to please get in touch with our office.”
Foxx said anyone with information should call 773-674-6492.
Foxx said she has not been in contact with prosecutors in Georgia, where Kelly has a home. She did say that relatives of two women over 18 years old have contacted her office to say the women had contact with Kelly and are now out of touch with their families.
She did not specify where the women were with Kelly, saying only it was in the “Chicagoland area.”
Kelly faced child pornography charges in Cook County in 2008 stemming from a 2002 sex tape that prosecutors said showed him with an underage girl. He was acquitted at trial of the charges.