District Attorney: ‘We Are Not Currently Investigating’ R. Kelly
The Fulton County district attorney said Friday that his office is not currently investigating R. Kelly over the “sex cult” allegations, hours after an Atlanta mayoral candidate stated that local police had uncovered “enough evidence” to open an investigation.
At a Friday press conference, Fulton County commission chairman John Eaves said that the Johns Creek Police Department had “provided key information” to warrant a criminal investigation into the allegations first aired this July in a Buzzfeed story.
However, following Eaves’ comments, Lieutenant Chris Byers of the Johns Creek Police Department told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “There is no new evidence in the closed investigation.” Byers admitted that the police department supplied the district attorney with their case file on Kelly accusations to “let them know what was going on due to the high profile nature of the incident and figured they would be getting calls about it.”
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard confirmed he received and will review the Johns Creek PD file, but added, “We are not currently investigating Mr. Kelly.”
“Today there is no investigation,” Howard said. “What we received is some information. Information that (police) might send on any citizen. We will look at it and make an evaluation. The evaluation might be that they need to do some more work.”
Eaves, who led the failed attempt to get Live Nation to cancel Kelly’s upcoming Atlanta-area concert, held a press conference Friday to demand that Howard open the criminal investigation against Kelly. Hours later, Kelly’s rep responded to Eaves’ continued pursuit of the singer.
“Mr. Kelly is outraged by the ongoing efforts of the Fulton County Board of Commissions and its chairman to interfere with his business interests and now, absent any authority, attempt to have him targeted for investigation,” the singer’s rep said in a statement.
“The Board made it clear last week that they wish to prevent Mr. Kelly’s Atlanta-area concert, though they do not have the authority to do so and are contractually obligated to honor their own agreements. Now, today, the Board’s chairman tries again to interfere with the concert and assist others in that effort by calling for an investigation based on a supposed file – the contents of which he has not even seen, and after proper authorities already stated just last week that they looked into the allegations and launched no investigation. The allegations against Mr. Kelly are false and ill-motived.”