Carlos Merchant, of Kaplan Avenue, was already being held in the Morris County Jail on $200,000 bail for similar charges when the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office executed its arrest. The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lincoln Park Police Department arrested Merchant July 30 for the alleged sexual assaults of two pre-pubescent girls.

Merchant was employed as a soccer coach at the Sports Factory Athletic Complex in Lincoln Park when an 11-year-old girl accused him of fondling her. The girl said she was at the camp when she encountered Merchant, who, according to the affidavit filed in Morristown Superior Court, touched her on the inner thigh. The statement further stated that Merchant began to rub his fingers under her shorts.

As news of that incident leaked, a second girl, age 9, told police that Merchant molested her in August 2007. Police said the girl met with Merchant, who hugged the girl and placed his hands over her genitals.

The Hackensack cases emerged earlier this month, when two women, ages 20 and 21, told police that Merchant had done the same to them several years ago at his home. Investigators say that the incidents are unrelated.

For the Hackensack cases, Merchant, who is married, was charged with second-degree child endangerment and two counts of second-degree sexual assault. Bail was set at $200,000 with no 10 percent cash option. Merchant was also ordered to surrender his passport and have no contact with the victims.