Oskaloosa ? A man who was released early from a state sexual offender program because of a technical snafu faces sex charges in Jefferson County.

John P. Hargis, 33, Ozawkie, is charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated indecent solicitation of a child.

During a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Jefferson County District Court, Hargis was accused of molesting a 7-year-old boy and trying to get the boy’s 11-year-old sister to take off her shirt.

The incidents occurred last year, the mother of the victims testified. They occurred while she was in a romantic relationship with Hargis, she said. They were living together in the Lakeside Village area of Jefferson County.

Hargis also faces charges including aggravated assault and threatening the mother during a Nov. 7, 2003, confrontation she had with Hargis. It was at that time she learned from her son about the alleged molestation, she said.

“I called him a pedophile — that made him mad,” the woman said.

The woman said Hargis threatened her with a gun and a machete.

Hargis was arrested Jan. 9 by Jefferson County Sheriff’s officers after an investigation into the incidents. The woman was also arrested and charged with two counts of endangerment of a child because she continued to stay with Hargis and kept the children with her. She and her children even accompanied Hargis when he went into hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to testimony.

Hargis is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on $100,000 bond. Assistant County Atty. Vic Braden asked Judge Dennis Reiling to increase that bond because Hargis had been convicted in a prior sex abuse case. Reiling ruled that the current bond was sufficient.

In 1995, Hargis was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual battery in Wyandotte County. The victims were 8- and 11-year-old girls. According to court papers, after serving 62 months in prison, Hargis was released to the state’s sexually violent predator program at Larned State Hospital. He was later released without completing the program because of an error in the timing of a hearing to determine when he would be enrolled in the program.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Hargis’ attorney, Michael Ireland, hammered at the mother of the children, repeatedly asking her why she stayed with Hargis and allowed the children to stay with him if she thought he had molested them.

“Because I was scared,” the woman said.

An investigation is continuing in the case, Braden said. He said he didn’t think there were additional victims. The children are now living with relatives, he said.

“They’re safe,” he said.

The purpose of the preliminary hearing was to determine if there was enough evidence to try Hargis on the charges. The hearing’s conclusion was continued to 11 a.m. March 3 because a witness Braden had intended to call was sick.