Getty Valencia Love was named as the woman who helped bail out R. Kelly.
Valencia Love, an Illinois business owner who says she’s just a friend, was named as the woman who helped bail R. Kelly out of jail.
Valencia P. Love, 47, of Romeoville, Illinois, is listed in court documents as posting a $100,000 bond to get Kelly out of the Cook County jail, where he was booked on sexual assault charges.
Love, who met R. Kelly on a boat cruise, later tried to get the money back, but a judge ruled that she could not, at least not now, according to The Chicago Sun Times.
Love’s name was released in jail documents. Tia Ewing, a journalist with Fox32, posted those documents on her Twitter page and wrote, “Valencia Patrice Love, age 47 of Romeoville says she is a friend of #RKelly on his 4 bond slips. She paid a total of $100,000 to get Kelly out of jail.” You can read the documents here:
Valencia Patrice Love, age 47 of Romeoville says she is a friend of #RKelly on his 4 bond slips. She paid a total of $100,000 to get Kelly out of jail. @fox32news
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Valencia Love Says She Was Just Helping Out a Friend
R&B singer R. Kelly arrives at the 1st District-Central police station on February 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced today that Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of four victims, at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
Valencia Patrice Love spoke to the Herald News briefly and confirmed she’s a friend of R. Kelly’s. She stated that she was his childhood friend, according to the newspaper. The court documents also label her as his “friend.”
“If your friend was in trouble, wouldn’t you bail them out?” she told the Herald News, adding, “He’s out. It doesn’t matter who (posted it).” The Herald News reported that she wouldn’t say if the money was hers.
However, ABC News reported that she said the money was his, not hers. Journalist Linsey Davis wrote on Twitter, “Valencia Love, the woman who bonded #RKelly out of jail, tells @ABC ‘It was his own money. I just posted bail for him.’ The woman also tells us he is ‘a good friend of mine.'”
2. Valencia Love Told a Chicago Journalist That R. Kelly Was Not a ‘Monster’
#RKelly’s friend that bailed him out breaks her silence. I spoke with Valencia P. Love for 14 minutes. She says the singer isn’t broke and she didn’t use her $100,000 for Kelly to bounce from the county. Here are notes from our conversation by phone. @fox32news
In an interview with journalist Ewing, Valencia Love stated that R. Kelly had told her he was innocent.
According to Ewing, Love said she didn’t condone abuse but added that Kelly should have a chance to “prove his innocence.” She added: “He’s not a monster, he’s not,” according to notes from the interview that Ewing posted on Twitter.
The journalist also wrote that Love claimed R. Kelly isn’t broke and described herself as his friend.
3. Valencia Love Is a Business Owner in Illinois
Who is Valencia P. Love? News site WJOL.com identified her as a business owner in Illinois.
Daily Mail reported: “Love owns a number of restaurants according to records obtained by DailyMail.com as well as a childcare facility, the Lord and Child Christian Day Care.” Corporate records reviewed by Heavy do show a Valencia P. Love as the listed agent for at least one restaurant and bar in Illinois – called Love on the Blu. Heavy left a voicemail at the restaurant seeking comment.
Valencia Love owns Love on the Blu, mentioned here:
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The about us section for the Illinois restaurant Love on the Blu says it’s “a black own restaurant and bar that serves specialty brunch. Also, we host Live Entertainment every 2nd and 4th Sunday. We are the perfect location for small business meeting, private parties and events. As a black own restaurant we make it our business for us to feel like a home away from home.” People have started leaving negative reviews on the Love on the Blu Yelp page referencing R. Kelly.
Ewing, the journalist, shared corporate records for the daycare that showed it listed as not being in good standing. Corporate records reviewed by Heavy show that the daycare is actually called LordanChild Christian Day Care Inc. A Valencia P. Love is listed as secretary. She is not listed as the president or agent, per corporate records. Children and Family Services records show the facility was licensed as a Chicago daycare with an age range for children of 2 to 12 years, and a capacity of 33.
4. Records Show a Bankruptcy Filling by Valencia Patrice Love
Records obtained by Heavy show that Valencia Patrice Love of Illinois filed for bankruptcy in federal court in 2015.
“Too much debt. Don’t have funds to pay,” she wrote in the documents. Under list of creditors, the documents state, “Department of Revenue Parking tickets $2700.”
There’s another filing that year for Valencia Patricia Love at the same address. That filing lists liabilities of more than $19,000. In that filing, her occupation is listed as “daycare teacher” at “Lord and Child Christian” for seven years. She listed her monthly income as just under $2,500, and she also listed a variety of creditors.
5. R. Kelly Spent Three Days In Custody & Then Headed to McDonald’s
R. Kelly
The Chicago Tribune reported that R. Kelly spent only three days in custody before being bailed out.
According to The Tribune, in order to be released from jail, Kelly needed to post 10 percent of the $1 million bail amount – amounting to $100,000. “A 47-year-old suburban Romeoville woman posted the bond for Kelly,” the newspaper reported.
Kelly is accused of multiple charges of sexual assault, including some involving underage girls. Kelly’s first act after being bailed out of jail was to go eat at McDonald’s, the same location where he allegedly once met a teenager. Kelly denies the accusations against him, which exploded with renewed currency when they were featured in a television series.
“Our position at this point is that Mr. Kelly has done nothing wrong,” said Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, to ABC News. “No one has showed us any evidence that he has done anything wrong.”