parents of r. kelly alleged victim start abuse hotline

As we wait for R. Kelly to finally get his day(s) in court, the parents of one of his alleged victims have used their efforts to bring the singer to justice, while also giving a voice to those who may have suffered at the hands of the “Pied Piper.”

Timothy Savage and Jonjelyn Savage are the parents of  Joycelyn Savage, who they claim is being “held against her will” in a sex cult lead by Kelly, according to Mic. The Savage’s efforts to get their daughter back have introduced them to almost 80 families affected by the R&B singer’s alleged predatory behavior, inspiring the couple to start an “abuse hotline” for anyone who has had abusive encounters with Kelly.

 

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An R Kelly abuse hotline has been created to help women who ever experienced domestic violence or a criminal encounter by #rkelly. . . Please leave a message at 678-744-3185 if you have been violated, had an underage encounter, or contracted an std by @rkelly. . . #friendtellfriends #powerinnumbers #muterkelly #domesticviolence #EndRapeCulture #MeToo #timesup

A post shared by Official MuteRKelly Movement (@officialmuterkelly) on Oct 9, 2018 at 11:42am PDT

The Savages say they have not seen their daughter since December of 2016 and last spoke to her on the phone in December, 2017. When the couple went public with their accusations against Kelly, Joycelyn denied the claims by telling TMZ: “All of that is false accusations. People talk all the time. It’s just rumors. … [People] are making things up to get money.”

On May 23, 2017, Timothy Savage filed a police complaint against Kelly’s manager James Mason, claiming that Mason threatened to kill Savage and harm his family. This sheer lack of remorse mirrors Kelly’s, who has vehemently denied the allegations against him that span two decades. Kelly even went as far as releasing a 19-minute song to weakly plead his case as the #MuteRKelly movement gained traction in its bid to end financial support for the singer.

The Savages told Mic that since coming forward with the allegations, “they have been in contact with at least 80 women or parents regarding allegations against Kelly; most of them are afraid to speak out because of his fame.” Fear of this nature is a prominent deterrent to coming forward, so the Savages launched the R. Kelly abuse hotline to give the singer’s victims an opportunity to share their experience in a confidential and safe manner.

“One reason I feel that he’s been getting away with a lot of the allegations for the last two decades is because people feel he has money and power and they don’t have the resources to fight him,” Jonjelyn Savage told Mic.

The Savages continue to spread the word about the allegations on their YouTube channel alongside a campaign called #FriendsTellFriends, encouraging victims of sexual or domestic abuse to tell loved ones.