The episode concludes by discussing delayed disclosure, highlighting that numerous survivors of childhood sexual abuse often take years or even decades to share their experiences.
R. Kelly’s daughter, Buku Abi, has spoken publicly for the first time about alleged childhood abuse by her father, detailed in the documentary Karma: A Daughter’s Journey. Abi claims the abuse occurred when she was around 8 or 9 and expressed fear and reluctance to tell anyone at the time.
Despite not going into specifics in the first episode, Abi’s testimony contributes to the narrative of delayed disclosure common among many victims of child sex abuse.
The documentary, which also features accounts from her family, provides a window into their struggle to rebuild their lives post-Kelly’s arrest and sentencing. R. Kelly has denied these allegations, but the gravity of Abi’s experiences and her family’s ordeals paint a harrowing picture of life in his shadow.
Abi’s courageous disclosure highlights the complexities victims face and the lasting impact such trauma can have. The series is currently streaming on TVEI Streaming Network.
Who Is Buku Abi?
In the closing moments of the new two-part documentary Karma: A Daughter’s Journey, which premiered today on TVEI Streaming Network, it is revealed that Abi, 26, suffered abuse from her father as a child and first disclosed this to her mother, Andrea, in 2009 when she was just 10 years old.
“He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened. I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person that he would do something to me,” Abi shares in the documentary, the first episode of which is now available for streaming. “I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”
While Abi, who is also known as Joann Kelly, refrains from providing specific details about the alleged abuse in the first episode, she asserts that she believes prison is a “well-suited place” for Kelly, 57, based on her “personal experience.”
Buku Abi: That One Millisecond Completely Just Changed My Whole Life
Buku Abi in the documentary says, “I really feel like that one millisecond completely just changed my whole life and changed who I was as a person and changed the sparkle I had and the light I used to carry. After I told my mom, I didn’t go over there anymore; my brother [Robert] and sister [Jaah], we didn’t go over there anymore. And even up until now I struggle with it a lot.”
The episode concludes by discussing delayed disclosure, highlighting that numerous survivors of childhood sexual abuse often take years or even decades to share their experiences.
In the second episode, Buku further revealed about the alleged abuse saying it happened when she was 8 or 9. “I just remember waking up to him touching me. And I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep,” recalled Buku.
In February 2023, Kelly received a 20-year prison sentence in Chicago for charges related to child pornography and enticing minors for sex. The previous year, he was given a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking charges stemming from New York. He is currently serving 19 years of both sentences concurrently and is set to be eligible for release in 2045.
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