During the appearance, a Texas judge scheduled a pre-trial hearing for the first week of August. That hearing could help set the stage for Aguilar’s eventual criminal trial.

Aguilar is the founder and former senior pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center. He was arrested May 21, 2013, on charges that he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister in the 1990s in Tarrant County, Texas. He resigned in June.

Aguilar has been indicted in two cases — one for each of the sisters — on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, three counts of sexual assault of a child under 17 and five counts of indecency with a child.

The aggravated sexual assault charges are first-degree felonies that carry a maximum term of life in prison. The remaining charges are second-degree felonies with a maximum sentence of 20 years each.

Prosecutors said last month that in preparing the case they’ve visited Virginia, California and Tennessee.

“We welcome the opportunity to give him his day in court, and we stand ready to bring Geronimo Aguilar to justice,” Christy Jack, deputy chief district attorney in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, said last month.