R. Kelly scandal not under investigation by Polk officials

LAKELAND (FOX 13) - Infamous R&B singer R. Kelly is back in the headlines and again finds himself embroiled in scandal. 

Citing former members of R. Kelly's circle, Buzzfeed reports Kelly is controlling the lives of six women who live at various properties in Chicago and Atlanta. Among the woman is an 18-year-old from Polk County.

According to Buzzfeed, R. Kelly "controls every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records."

”We just want him to release her and let [her] go on with her life,” said Jonjelyn Savage, mother to one of the women.

She spoke out in front of the Atlanta-area homes said to be run by R. Kelly.

“I just want her home and try to get her rehabilitated,” she said.

Parents of the Polk County teen tell Buzzfeed their daughter met R. Kelly at a concert when she was 17 and eventually moved in with him after she turned 18. Her parents want her back, saying they haven't heard from her in more than a year.

In a TMZ exclusive interview, Joycelyn Savage, one of the women allegedly living with R. Kelly, disputed that she was being held against her will.

“I’m in a happy place in my life and I’m not being brainwashed or anything like that," Savage said.

But when pressed by TMZ, questioning if she could leave, Savage appeared to dodge the question. 

As for the aspiring female singer from Polk County, Sheriff Grady Judd says his agency hasn't fielded any criminal complaints from her parents, therefore his office is not investigating.

R. Kelly was arrested in Polk in 2002 on child porn charges. He was later acquitted. The Polk parents say they initially hoped R. Kelly would mentor her in the music industry.

“If R. Kelly started dating her after 18, that's not against the law. If she doesn't want to communicate with her parents, that's not against the law. But it would calm down the media if she'd say, 'Mom, it's OK,'” Sheriff Judd said.

To read the Buzzfeed article in its entirety click here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimderogatis/parents-told-police-r-kelly-is-keeping-women-in-a-cult