Lawsuit names R. Kelly

K.C. claim says star didn't pay client for recovery of tape

? A Kansas City man has sued R&B singer R. Kelly, accused in Illinois of videotaping sex acts with an underage girl, claiming Kelly owes him $75,000 for recovering a stolen videotape.

In the Illinois case, a grand jury in Chicago recently charged Kelly with 21 counts of child pornography for a videotape that allegedly shows him in sex acts with a 13-year-old girl. Kelly pleaded innocent.

The lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court last week did not involve that videotape, said Gregory Vleisides, the plaintiff’s lawyer.

Vleisides said he had not seen the tape his client, Charles Freeman, recovered and does not know why it is so valuable.

“I didn’t ask,” he said.

The lawsuit said a San Francisco private detective employed by Kelly negotiated a contract with Freeman. The contract promised Freeman $100,000 and up to $40,000 in expenses if he recovered the stolen tape.

To get the money, Freeman was to recover the tape in two days and pass a polygraph to prove he knows of no other copies “whether in whole or in part in any form.”

Freeman found the tape and turned it over as specified but was paid only $65,000, the lawsuit states.