Currently facing 13 counts of sexual misconduct charges, R. Kelly is now attempting to use his ex-business partner’s reasoning to dismiss his federal child pornography charges.

According to court documents obtained by Bossip, the alleged sex offender filed a motion on Monday (Oct. 28) to dismiss the charge that he conspired with his former manager and co-defendent, Derrel McDavid, to obtain and destroy sex tapes involving minors between the years 1997 and 2002.

In a Chicago court this past July, McDavid pleaded not guilty to four federal charges brought against him and was released on a $500,000 bond. He is accused of helping cover up Kelly’s crimes, quieting victims with payouts and protecting Kelly’s tapes. Milton “June” Brown, Kelly’s former personal assistant, was also named in two of Kelly’s 13 counts, although he was not directly accused of helping Kelly to cover up his alleged crimes.

McDavid motioned to dismiss his charges surrounding the tapes, arguing that the alleged offenses occurred after the statute of limitations expired in 2014, which would make them ineligible for prosecution.

McDavid, and now Kelly, are claiming that the court can’t prove they conspired to destroy the tapes due to the time frame and have moved to have the charges dropped.

The judge has yet to rule on Kelly’s and McDavid’s request.

The accused R&B singer will appear in front of a Brooklyn, NY court later this week for his ongoing federal sex trafficking case. Kelly previously pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in Brooklyn this past August. He faces five federal charges in New York, including one count of racketeering and four counts of violating the “Mann Act,” which prohibits the transportation of people across state lines for prostitution. The New York indictment accuses Kelly and his team of recruiting young girls to be sexually exploited. He currently faces 13 federal and state charges in the state of Illinois.