Superstar R&B singer-producer Robert "R." Kelly was dealt a blow Friday after a Chicago judge refused to dismiss the pornography charges Kelly was leveled with more than three years ago, moving a step closer to a trial in which the singer will be tried for allegedly having sex with minors.

    On Friday, Kelly’s defense argued that the prosecution has been too vague about when the alleged crime took place, said county state’s attorney spokeswoman Marcy Jensen, according to the Associated Press.

    According to prosecutors, the tape shows Kelly in various states of undress, fornicating with women. It also reportedly captures what has now become a popular joke among comics: Kelly urinating on one woman’s face.

    Prosecutors claim the video was made sometime between January 1998 and October 2000. They cut 18 months off their original timeframe of November 1997 to February 2002 after a judge agreed in June that the span was too broad.

    But Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan rejected the defense’s claims. "The indictment is not void, and there is sufficient notice for Mr. Kelly to prepare his defense," Gaughan said, according to the Chicago Tribune, adding that he believes prosecutors have been as specific as they can be and have acted in good faith.

    Gaughan also ordered the state to turn over more data on the videotape after Kelly’s lead attorney Ed Genson told the judge the defense has been given the original tape and a digitized master copy, but nothing about how computers processed images in between.

   "The fact of the matter is, there is some indication on the original tape that there had been things done to it," Genson said. The defense has not conceded that the person on the tape is Kelly, and it has suggested in court filings it may argue that Kelly’s image was generated by a computer.

    Kelly, whose next court date is Dec. 9, faces 14 counts of child pornography; he pled not guilty to all of them. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in jail.