A 39-year-old Lawrence man accused of raping two young girls will stand trial after waiving his rights to a preliminary hearing Thursday.

William Ellis, Jr., who is accused of raping two girls under the age of 10, waived his preliminary hearing on Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

William Joseph Ellis Jr. is accused of raping two girls under age 10 whom he and his late wife, Angela Ellis, babysat, according to the affidavit supporting Ellis’ arrest.

After Ellis waived his right to a preliminary hearing, Chief Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild bound him over for trial on two charges of child rape.

On July 24, police interviewed the two alleged victims, who told officers that they had both been fondled and raped on numerous occasions at their “day care” in the Ellis trailer home at 1300 block of Delaware Street, according to the arrest affidavit.

When an officer asked one of the children how often these assaults occurred, she replied, “Like a million times. Well not a million, but a lot of times,” according to the affidavit.

One of the girls also reported that during the most recent abuse Angela Ellis saw her husband with his pants down with a girl in the room, according to the affidavit. The girl said Ellis then denied to his wife that he had any nefarious intentions.

Police arrested William Ellis on July 25, the day after the children’s interviews. Angela Ellis died in their shared trailer home just six days later. Foul play is not suspected in her death.

According to the affidavit, Ellis told police he had been sexually abusing the girls over the course of a year. During the interview, Ellis allegedly said he “touched them the way (he) shouldn’t have touched them” and wanted to “reach out for help for what he did.”

“You guys got me busted. I’m busted,” William Ellis told investigators, according to the affidavit. “I can’t give you exact numbers, I just know it happened. I’m stupid for doing it.”

Ellis is scheduled to make his next appearance in court on Oct. 15 for arraignment, when he will enter a formal plea to the charges. If convicted, he faces a “Hard 40” or minimum 40 years in prison for each count, according to prosecutors.

Ellis has a prior conviction of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child from 1996, according to court records.

He remains in the Douglas County Jail on a $500,000 bond.