The arraignment of a California man on charges of sexual abuse, sodomy and rape has been postponed 30 days.

Limestone County Circuit Judge Chad Wise made the decision this week in the case against Julio Cesar Valencia, 66, of 732 E. Evelyn Ave., Sunnyvale, California, who is charged with one count of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse. He is accused of sexually abusing, raping and sodomizing one of his stepdaughters, as well as sexually abusing her and another stepdaughter and stepson while they were living on Hine Street in Athens during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“Judge Wise requested both sides file any additional pleadings, briefs, et cetera, within 30 days regarding the pending motion to dismiss we filed,” said Attorney Brett Knight, one of four attorneys representing Valencia.

There are two matters currently before the court in this case — Valencia’s arraignment on the charges and defense attorneys’ request to dismiss those charges.

An arraignment is usually the first step in a criminal case. During an arraignment, the defendant is asked whether he has an attorney and enters a plea. The court then sets or confirms bail and announces the date of the next proceeding.

However, the court will deal with the requests to dismiss the charges before arraigning Valencia. If charges are dismissed, arraignment is unnecessary.

Court records show Valencia confessed to abusing one stepdaughter during an interview with the Department of Human Resources, but then-District Attorney Jimmy Fry has said the case never made it to his office.

When one of the stepdaughters became an adult and had a child of her own, she contacted Athens Police Department to try to determine what happened to the case. Police Chief Floyd Johnson tracked down the records and the case was sent to District Attorney Kristi Valls, who obtained an indictment against Valencia on different charges. District Attorney Brian Jones took over the case when he first took office in 2011 but had Valencia indicted on different charges.

Although charged during these years, Valencia was never tried.

Some of the charges against Valencia were dismissed because they were based on current law and not on the law on the books at the time the alleged abuse occurred. In March 2017, Wise dismissed the remaining counts of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse because the case had lingered so long without going to trial he believed it violated Valencia’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.

Jones took the case back to the grand jury, and they indicted Valencia on the current charges.

Lawyers for Valencia — Knight, Richard Jaffe, Michael Whisonant and Dan Totten — are seeking to have the new charges against their client dismissed. They claim, among other things, that the new charges are based on the same set of facts as the charges dismissed by the court for violating Valencia’s right to a speedy trial.

Jones and Deputy District Attorney Jim Ayers Jr. say the new charges are based on incidents of abuse not covered in the previously dismissed indictments.