CHICAGO -- R. Kelly's child pornography case can finally get under way.

A judge in Illinois has decided that jury selection can begin in the case, in which Kelly is accused of having sex with a girl as young as 13 on videotape.

Kelly's defense team had filed a motion to again delay the trial. It has already been delayed for six years.

A defense attorney told the court that the jury pool has been "irrevocably poisoned" by an article in Friday's Chicago Sun-Times citing unnamed sources talking about a potential witness.

Prosecutors contended it was premature to say the article affected potential jurors and that if any were tainted, they could be weeded out during the selection process.