R. Kelly's daughter claims the singer sexually abused her as a child

R. Kelly's daughter Buku Abi claims in a new documentary that her father sexually abused her as a child.

Abi, who Kelly shares with ex-wife Andrea “Drea” Kelly, made the accusation in the two-part series R. Kelly's Karma: A Daughter's Journeywhich premiered via the TVEI Streaming Network on Friday (October 11).

“He was my everything. For a long time I didn't even want to believe it happened. I didn't know that even if he was a bad person he would do something to me,” Abby, whose legal name is Joan Kelly, says in the episode. “I was too scared to tell anyone. I was too scared to tell my mom.”

In the second episode, Abi, now 26, claims the abuse happened when she was 8 or 9 years old. “I just remember waking up and him touching me,” she recalls tearfully. “And I didn't know what to do, so I just laid there and pretended to be asleep.” He added, “from that moment on, I was a different person.”

Abi says she initially reported the alleged abuse to her mother in 2009 and a “Jane Doe” complaint was filed, but the statute of limitations had run out. “They couldn't kick him out because I waited too long. So at that point in my life, I felt like I said something about nothing,” he said.

Kelly's attorney Jennifer Bonjean said in a statement to People that the jailed singer “categorically denies these allegations. His ex-wife made the same claim years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and found to be unfounded…. And the 'directors,' whoever they are, have not reached out to Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these damaging allegations.”

The disgraced R&B singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021. In 2022, Kelly was also convicted of six counts of child pornography and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Its first two episodes R. Kelly's Karma: A Daughter's Journey it is currently streaming on the TVEI Streaming Network.