The women, who had not previously spoken publicly about the accusations, gave their accounts at a news conference in New York organized by their lawyer, Gloria Allred.
The two women, Latresa Scaff, 40, and Rochelle Washington, 39, both of Maryland, said they met the singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly and who has faced sexual abuse accusations going back decades, after a concert in Baltimore in 1995 or 1996.
Kelly had performed with LL Cool J at an arena in the city. The two teenagers, who were about 16 and 15 at the time, bought tickets to the concert and an after-party at a nearby nightclub, they said.
Allred showed photos of the two women that they said were taken that night. They had dressed up and were smiling broadly as they posed with LL Cool J and in front of a backdrop emblazoned with Kelly’s visage.
At the after-party, Kelly pointed to the girls and asked his security guards to bring them to the stage, the women said. They were offered drugs and alcohol, and Kelly’s staff members paid for a taxi to take them back to his hotel, Scaff said.
While waiting for Kelly to arrive in a hotel suite, the girls were so excited that they called a local radio station to tell them they were with R. Kelly, Scaff said. They went on live radio and “many people heard us,” she added.
Kelly entered the room a short while later with his penis exposed and asked the girls to dance, Scaff said. He asked for a threesome, the women said, and Rochelle, who was younger, said she would not participate and went into the bathroom.
Kelly then asked Scaff to perform oral sex, and had sex with her, she said. She was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time, she added.
Afterward, neither girl saw Kelly again. Scaff said she told friends about what had happened, and Washington told her mother.
“When I first met R. Kelly that night, I was very happy and excited because I was young and star-struck,” Scaff said. But in hindsight, she said, she feels hurt.
“I am speaking out because I want to encourage other victims who I know must be out there to come forward as well,” she added.
Allred said that both women met with officials from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Thursday afternoon to share their accounts.
Asked why she chose that office, rather than the Baltimore Police Department or another agency, Allred said she had confidence in the prosecutors there and believed that they were investigating Kelly. A spokesman for the office said he could not confirm that.
A lawyer for Kelly did not immediately return a call and email requesting comment.
Kelly has faced accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse for decades but has never been convicted; he has denied that he had sex with minors or held women against their will. He was acquitted in 2008 of 14 counts of child pornography in a trial that centered on a sex tape, and has reached settlements with numerous accusers.
But momentum against him has been building since Buzzfeed News’ publication in July 2017 of a lengthy investigation into accusations that Kelly held women in a so-called sex cult.
That article, by journalist Jim DeRogatis, who has reported on the accusations against Kelly for nearly 20 years, spurred a six-part Lifetime documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” that aired last month and included testimony from several women who accused Kelly of abuse.
Public opinion seemed to turn against him. His label, RCA Records, has dropped him, and Spotify has removed his songs, which include “Ignition” and “I Believe I Can Fly,” from its playlists. He is also being investigated in at least two states: Illinois and Georgia, where he had homes and where prosecutors have urged any potential victims or witnesses to come forward.
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti also said last week that he had given Chicago prosecutors a videotape that, according to a report, appears to show Kelly having sex with a girl who may have been underage.
Allred said she represented “a number” of Kelly’s accusers — she would not specify how many — and said that some were worried that videos of them being abused might be circulating.
Washington, who cried as she spoke, encouraged women who were victimized by Kelly to contact lawyers and law enforcement officials.
“I want victims to know it’s not their fault,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.