Atlanta native Joycelyn Savage, in a letter to a federal judge, identified herself as R&B singer R. Kelly’s fiancée.
The letter was procured by TMZ, which broke the news.
R. Kelly was sentenced by a federal judge last month to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. Savage has been identified as one of his victims but she has disputed that charge in past interviews and on social media.
In the letter, she wrote that “I’m not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be.” She later added, “Robert and I are deeply in love and it breaks my heart that the government has created a narrative that I’m a victim. I’m a grown woman, and can speak for myself which is why I wanted to provide this letter to the court.”
She described R. Kelly as “an all-around incredible person. He loves his music and is very passionate about that. He’s positive, outgoing, and very generous.”
Last September, a jury convicted Kelly on one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law. Prosecutors said Kelly used his status as a powerful artist via a “network of people at his disposal to target girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.”
A 2019 Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” featured Savage’s parents, who live in Stockbridge and have not been in regular touch with their daughter. They believe she was brainwashed and abused by R. Kelly.
After the prison sentence was handed down last month, Savage’s parents’ attorney Gerald A. Griggs released a statement, noting that they “hope it will continue to send a strong message that sexual predators will be punished for their illegal conduct. It is their continued hope to reunite and reconnect with their daughter. They hope that now Joycelyn will return home. They are glad that the Court heard the voices of the survivors.”
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