A previously unidentified accuser in the criminal case against R&B singer and accused sexual predator R. Kelly is breaking an agreement to stay anonymous and speaking publicly for the first time.
Lanita Carter, the singer’s former hairdresser, is among the four accusers involved in the 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for which Chicago officials arrested Kelly last month after the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly catalyzed renewed public attention to the decades of sexual assault allegations against the singer.
“This is a release,” Carter said in an interview with CBS News that aired Thursday. “I’ve been carrying this since 2003. I don’t want to be in the public, but this is my life. If I die tomorrow, I know that I told the truth.”
Carter, who was 24 at the time of the alleged sexual assault in February 2003, claims that Kelly propositioned her to perform oral sex on him. When she refused, Carter says, he masturbated and repeatedly spat in her face, only stopping when someone knocked on the door.
“Fix your face. Fix your motherfucking face,” Carter says Kelly told her.
According to Carter, she reported the incident to police that same day. A semen sample on her shirt matched DNA from Kelly, but prosecutors decided not to charge him. He later reached a confidential settlement with Carter, denying any wrongdoing and paying $650,000 to silence her.
“Celebrities are powerful. Celebrities have support systems,” Carter said. “I had no support system outside of my immediate family.”
After the Lifetime documentary series in January, officials in Chicago asked accusers to come forward, and Carter responded. Weeks later, Kelly was arrested for the charges brought by Carter, as well as three underage accusers.
“I would be going on with my day, you turn on the news, here’s another R. Kelly victim, another R. Kelly victim, another R. Kelly victim, and you just want to be there for them,” Carter said Thursday.
The singer and his lawyer have continually denied the numerous accusations against him, which include sexually abusing teenage girls, running a so-called sex cult and holding women against their will. In 2008, a Chicago jury acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges involving an alleged tape of him abusing a girl, 14.