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A preliminary hearing for Juan Jose Aranguri, a soccer coach charged with sexually abusing two young soccer players, was postponed today to Sept. 19 in Montgomery County District Court.

Aranguri, 46, of the 5700 block of Luxemburg Street in Rockville, may be indicted on the charges — in which case the preliminary hearing will not be held.

Aranguri was arrested Aug. 11 and charged after allegedly inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl who had been attending his soccer camp, the South America Soccer Academy. The camp meets at Bretton Woods Recreation Center on River Road. The girl said Aranguri inappropriately touched her in July after she developed leg cramps and he began to massage her legs, according to charging documents.

Those documents also state that Aranguri telephoned the girl after the incident and told her he would not have sexual contact with her if she returned to the soccer camp.

After reading media reports about the case, a second soccer player came forward with more allegations against Aranguri in August. The girl, who was 14 at the time, alleged that Aranguri touched her inappropriately during a private soccer coaching session at Tilden Middle School in 2004, according to charging documents.

Aranguri was free on $50,000 bond when he was arrested Aug. 26 and charged again in relation to those allegations.

"He certainly denies the allegations," said Aranguri's Greenbelt lawyer, John McKenna, when contacted by The Gazette. McKenna would not comment further.

Aranguri is free on $25,000 bond, though he has stepped down as coach of a girls' team with the Bethesda Soccer Club, and has been suspended from other coaching duties with MSI, one of the county's largest soccer clubs.

The abuse charges generated controversy among the Montgomery County soccer community, with some parents coming to Aranguri's defense. Aranguri had no comment.