R. Kelly denies allegations that he had sex with Chicago minor

Jet, March 4, 2002

Soul crooner R. Kelly recently denied that he had sex with a minor after a videotape that appears to show him allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl was sent anonymously to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.

"It's very difficult for me, but, you know, I'm innocent. So it's not that difficult," Kelly told WMAQ-Channel 5. "It's crap, and that's how we're going to treat it."

Chicago police began investigating Kelly after a 26-minute, 39-second videotape was sent to the newspaper a week before he was to perform at the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The newspaper reported that the tape showed Kelly performing various sex acts with the underage girl.

Kelly's attorney, John M. Touhy, said the tape is a fraud, while the singer told WMAQ that he believes people from his past released the tape to ruin his shining moment at the Olympics.

"It's not true," the 35-year-old singer told WMAQ. "All I know is this: I have a few people in the past that I've fired ... people that I thought were my friends that's not my friends. Ever since then it's been threats on what they're gonna do to me, and ... if I don't pay them this, they'll put a story out ... when I refuse to pay them, and now here comes this story."