Detroit police investigating R. Kelly for alleged rape of 13-year-old

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A new allegation has surfaced that R. Kelly raped a young girl in Detroit when she was only 13 years old. 

Right now Detroit police say they still need to speak to an alleged sexual assault victim. FOX 2 spoke with Detroit Police Chief James Craig who tells us they have been working to get ahold of this woman, who now lives out of state, for about a month.

"Sometime last month we received information from the Chicago Police Department of a possible victim that was allegedly sexually assaulted by R. Kelly sometime I believe in 2001," said Craig.

Craig said that he, along with prosecutors from the Wayne County office, are trying to learn first-hand what allegedly happened.

"After getting that information we reached out to the victim in this case and she referred us over to her attorney," Craig said.

Craig said at this point it is far too early to speculate on any additional charges the R & B singer from Chicago could face.

"We don't know what the victim is going to tell us, certainly, depending on what we find out, it will be up to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office to make a decision as to whether or not there will be charges," Craig said.

R. Kelly is currently facing 10 counts of sexual abuse, all based in Chicago. If convicted on those charges he could potentially spend the rest of his life in prison. He is back in jail, arrested Wednesday for unpaid child support.

The chief said in regards to the alleged crime in Detroit, he is trying by any means possible to get ahold of the victim. 

"I have personally reached out to the attorney in the case, Gloria Allred, via email so hopefully we will get a response back," Craig said. "We need to get a response back so we can follow up on this matter,"

Chief Craig says that the fact that a celebrity is at the center of this investigation is meaningless. He says any allegation of a sexual assault against a minor in the city of Detroit is handled with the utmost urgency.