‘Groupie remorse’ Kelly: Bitter accusers were desperate to be with me
No sign of Ep suicide try at court
Accused pedophile R. Kelly is blaming and shaming the victims in his Brooklyn-based racketeering case, calling them “disgruntled groupies” who were “dying” to be with him.
In a filing ahead of the singer’s Friday arraignment in New York, Kelly’s lawyer said the alleged victims acted voluntarily and now are suffering from “groupie remorse,” even though prosecutors claim three of the five were minors.
The lawyer claimed the victims “fought” and “pined” to be with the Grammy winner during luxury “fan experiences” that often included free hotel rooms and airfare.
The lawyer, Douglas Anton, scoffed at the claim that Kelly ran a “racketeering enterprise” over two decades, saying the former superstar’s alleged conduct affected “only five Jane Does in that 20 years and that they are spread out in Illinois, California, Connecticut and New York.”
He said Kelly’s current “live-in girlfriends,” who have denied claims Kelly isolated and coerced them, planned to show their support for the singer by attending his Brooklyn hearing.
“They are appearing in N.Y., of their own accord, on their own dime, to support the man they have loved for so many years,” Anton wrote.
The lawyer said Kelly is not a “dangerous defendant” and should be released on his own recognizance or with minimal bail not including home confinement or an electronic bracelet.
“Robert goes [to] five places: home, studio, gym, church and the cigar lounge,” he wrote in the letter to the judge.
In the 18-page superseding indictment filed July 10 in the Brooklyn Federal Court, Kelly was accused of sexual activity with three girls under the age of 18, hiding the fact that he had a sexually-transmitted disease, producing child pornography and asking his alleged victims to call him “daddy.”
The filing charged the singer with racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and sexual exploitation of a child.
Kelly, 52, was due to appear in Brooklyn after his extradition from Illinois, where he’s facing separate state and federal charges. Jeffrey Epstein showed no signs of a suicide attempt during a brief court appearance Wednesday in which prosecutors said they want him to face trial in June 2020.
The multimillionaire sex offender sported the same blue jail uniform and tan shirt that he wore during previous hearings in Manhattan Federal Court. His neck showed no bruising or abrasions. The Daily News reported last week that Epstein’s cellmate, disgraced ex-Westchester cop Nicholas Tartaglione, told authorities he may have saved the accused sex trafficker’s life after an attempted hanging. Sources say Epstein is now on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Epstein lawyer would not comment.
Epstein is accused of abusing dozens of underage girls at his Upper East Side mansion and in Florida between 2002 and 2005.
Epstein has pleaded not guilty.