Joycelyn Savage's father knows EXACTLY who got her involved with R. Kelly, and how she ended up living with the singer ... because she claims her dad helped orchestrate the whole thing.
Sources close to Joycelyn tell TMZ ... the 21-year-old singer's father, Timothy, was on board with his daughter going to live with Kelly almost 2 years ago after Joycelyn and Kelly met at a concert.
We're told the eventual plan -- hatched by Dad, R. Kelly and others -- was for Joycelyn to stay at Kelly's house to develop as a singer under his tutelage. We're told Timothy was the one who dropped her off at a friend's house to be driven to Kelly's.
Our sources say Timothy knew Joycelyn would stay with Kelly for some extended period -- perhaps months -- but had no idea it would be for years. As Joycelyn first told us ... it's been about 6 months since she's seen her family in person -- but she's telling friends her dad knows her exact whereabouts.
She's refused to reveal her location to us.