Valencia Love, the woman who bailed musician R. Kelly out of jail after he was arrested on sexual abuse charges, received a bomb threat on March 3.
A day care connected with Love was the subject of the threat, which multiple people called in, police confirmed to CBS Chicago.
The Chicago Police Department said that that bomb and arson teams cleared the scene.
No suspect was in custody as of Monday.
ONLY HERE: Saturday, multiple people called in a bomb threat to a daycare near W. 79th & Kedzie. The business is connected to the woman who posted R. Kelly’s $100k bond. PER CPD – “No offender in custody. Bomb and arson cleared the scene. Area Central investigating.” @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/80AHAAGmv8
— Brad Edwards (@tvbrad) March 3, 2019
Kelly, 52, whose given name is Robert Kelly, surrendered to police on Feb. 22 on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse that allegedly took place between 1998 and 2010. Four victims, three of whom say they were underage at the time of the abuse, told police about the alleged crimes.
Kelly’s bond was set at $1 million, meaning he needed to post $100,000 or wait in jail until he is tried on the abuse allegations. Two days after surrendering, he remained in jail. His lawyer told the court that Kelly isn’t wealthy despite netting millions over the years for writing songs for himself and others.
“This is someone who should be wealthy at this stage of his career. … He really doesn’t have any more money,” he said, arguing for a manageable bail.
Kelly finally left jail on Feb. 25 after posting the bail. Court records showed a 47-year-old woman from the Chicago suburb of Romeoville, Illinois, posted the $100,000 bail and identified herself on the bond slip as “a friend” of Kelly.
Initially going unnamed, the friend was later identified as Love. “I just help out a Friend if he guilty let him pay for it thru the courts,” she wrote on the Yelp page for her restaurant, Love on the Blu. “I am sure some of them. have bail out murders [sic] drug dealers etc.,” she added, speaking about users who were criticizing her decision to post the money.
According to records obtained by the Daily Mail, Love owns multiple restaurants in addition to a child care facility, the Lord and Child Christian Day Care. But the Mail later backtracked, saying in an update: “It is currently unclear whether Love is still tied to the day care.”
“She is still listed as a ‘registered agent’ at the day care with the Illinois secretary of state but there have been reports that she no longer works there,” it added.
Valencia Love posted $100,000 to help R. Kelly win his freedom from Cook County Jail just months after meeting him. It’s unclear whether money from a $1.1 million wrongful-death lawsuit helped, @NaderDIssa and @FrankMainNews report. https://t.co/aVdaayLVwk
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) February 27, 2019
Love Met Kelly on a Cruise
Love told ABC News that R. Kelly is a “good friend of mine.” She also said that she did not use her own money though she did say she went to a bank to withdraw the money.
“It was his own money,” Love said. “I just posted [bond] for him.”
“When you fall to the bottom, no one is there,” Love added to WGN of Kelly. “I’m just trying to be a friend. Never turn your back on a friend. I help everybody.”
Kelly was at Love’s restaurant a few weeks ago, a bartender who works nearby said. “A lot of celebrities hang out up in there,” said Ramona Stampley, the bartender.
— Courtney Gousman (@cgousman) March 3, 2019
#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 pic.twitter.com/CvTblkyT2j
— Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) February 26, 2019
According to a close friend of Kelly, she met the songwriter and singer on a Spirit of Chicago cruise on Lake Michigan in September 2018.
Don Russell said that Love was a fan of Kelly’s music before she met him.
She reached out to Kelly’s inner circle when she learned of his predicament, Russell told the Chicago Sun-Times. “She wanted Rob to have a chance at justice, and she thought he’d have a better chance outside of jail than inside,” Russell said.
According to court records, Love filed for bankruptcy in 2015, saying she had $2,700 in parking tickets she couldn’t pay. At the time, she told the court she was a teacher at a day care.
In 2017, Love and her husband received about $1.1 million each in a legal settlement from a wrongful-death lawsuit they filed against the former Children’s Medical Hospital over their daughter’s death there. The Sun-Times reported that records list Love as manager of Love on the Blue and as a corporate officer for the day care.