CHICAGO —A Michigan claims she had a six-year relationship with R. Kelly that started when she was 16 years old.
The 36-year-old woman, who now goes by Danielle Williams, said Kelly lured her in when she was 16. She tells WGN wanted to tell her story for a long time.
The aspiring model said she was given Kelly’s business card by his manager at a downtown Chicago restaurant in 1998.
She said she skipped school to go to Kelly’s studio on the Near West Side and said she thought she was auditioning for a music video.
“He just told me to take off my clothes and we would proceed from there,” she said. “When I got in the cab, I got an envelope with $1,000. I had never seen that amount of money in my life. I had no concept of getting paid for sexual acts. I didn’t think it applied to me, only for adults.”
Some of Williams’ memories echo those of other women who said they were abused by the music star on Lifetime’s six-part documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly.” The series featured accounts from accusers and Kelly’s close friends on his life and allegations of abuse, predatory behavior and pedophilia.
Williams also said Kelly always wanted her to talk like a baby. She said he once held her in a hotel for three days against her will.
“I always felt like if I crossed him he would kill me,” she said. “I just felt like he had the power to find me wherever I was.”
She said the R&B singer needs to go to jail.
“As I grew older, he lost interest in me,” she said. “So I know that he’s a pedophile. I think that he should go to jail and the victims should get some type of restitution. Because the trajectory of my life changed at that moment. Nothing has ever been the same.”
Williams reached out to the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. On Tuesday, Foxx asked any potential victims of Kelly to come forward. She said anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to call the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Division at 773-674-6492.
WGN reached out to Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, for comment but he did not return the call.
On Wednesday, in an interview with WGN, Greenberg said no one in Chicago has come forward with accusations because Kelly did nothing illegal.
“There are no underage women, there is no sex cult, it’s all some reality TV made up story,” Greenberg said. “No one has ever seen any evidence of it. There are no photos of him with these women. There’s no anything.”
A report on Buzzfeed claimed that Kelly housed six different women at his properties in Chicago and Georgia. He has denied that allegation.
TMZ reported Tuesday that the singer is under criminal investigation in Georgia.