"I Didn't Know What to Do" — R. Kelly's Daughter Buku Abi Says He Sexually Abused Her

Content warning: This article mentions sexual abuse and incest.

The daughter of Robert Sylvester Kelly, aka R. Kelly, is speaking out about being sexually abused by her father when she was a child.

The disgraced singer is currently serving a 19-year prison sentence for child sexual abuse, which includes use and recording of child pornography. Here's what to know.

In a TVEI documentary, Karma: A Daughter’s Journey, Kelly's daughter, Buku Abi, born Joann Kelly, 26, claimed that he sexually abused her when she was younger. She said the abuse happened when she was between 8 and 9 years old.

"I just remember waking up to him touching me," Abi recalls as she cried on the documentary. "And I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep."

She said she waited until 10 to tell her mother, Kelly's ex-wife Drea Kelly. Drea and Abi went to the police to file a complaint under a "Jane Doe" pseudonym. However, authorities told them they didn't have a case because she "waited too long."

"So at that point in my life, I felt like I said something for nothing," Abi said.

Abi added that the alleged abuse from her father forever severed their relationship, stating she and his other two children with Drea no longer felt safe being alone with him, which was difficult for her to come to terms with.

"He was my everything," Kelly's daughter said. "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 that he would do something to me. I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”

Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, has since addressed Abi's claims. In a statement to People, she said he "vehemently denies" abusing his daughter and was upset the doc's filmmakers didn't reach out to him ahead of its release.