R&B singer R. Kelly is scheduled to go on trial next month -- more than five years after he was first charged with child pornography.

The judge in the case announced a Sept. 17 date for the start of a jury trial, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported on its Web site that the setting of a date followed a meeting Wednesday that lasted more than an hour between Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan with Kelly, his attorneys and the case's lead prosecutor. Gaughan said the two sides have agreed on what questions potential jurors can be asked.

Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of child pornography. He was charged in 2002 and is accused of engaging in videotaped sex acts with an underage girl.

He has said he'll survive his legal tribulations.

"I'm going through my own struggle ... and you're either gonna fold or you're going to stand," he told The Associated Press in 2005, "and I believe in standing."

[Tribune]