Carey Lee Cramer, 43, pleaded not guilty to six counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact and one count of indecency with a child by exposure. State District Judge Noe Gonzalez arraigned Cramer on Wednesday in his 370th state District Court room.

Cramer and was released from Hidalgo County Jail on Thursday on a $30,000 surety bond. He was allowed to return to his residence in Arizona until a court hearing is set.

A grand jury indicted Cramer on May 11 on charges that he molested the two girls between December 1999 and April 2001, when Cramer, his ex-wife Samara Whittaker and her daughter lived in Mercedes and McAllen. The couple, who were married almost six years and have a son together, moved from McAllen to Arizona in 2001.

Cramer’s whereabouts were unknown Friday, and he could not be reached for comment. His McAllen attorney, Dahlila Guerra Casso, said the grand jury duplicated some of the counts they charged against him. She intends to file a former motion asking the state to withdraw the duplicate charges.

Casso indicated the molestation charges may be tied to Cramer’s separation from Whittaker.

"The petition of the annulment of the marriage were filed, and the following Friday the criminal charges were filed" she said.

In 2000, Cramer used his stepdaughter, then 9 years old, in a pro-Republican commercial that made national news because it accused the Clinton-Gore administration of giving nuclear technology to China in return for campaign contributions.

The commercial showed a young girl picking daisy petals and ends with a nuclear blast, a remake of a 1964 ad by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater. The original commercial aired only once.

Cramer created the ad for Aretino Industries, according to a 2000 article by The Associated Press. He refused to identify who paid for the commercial.

The ad was pulled after airing in several cities. Bush’s former spokesman Ari Fleischer condemned "anonymous ads like this," according to the AP.

Whittaker, who now lives in Arizona, said she now thinks Cramer molested her daughter during the making of the commercial. She does not know who funded the ad.

Whittaker said she worries for her daughter and other young girls now that Cramer is on bond.

"The concern from a mom’s standpoint, this person is out and about on bail," she said

Tucson police investigated molestation allegations against Cramer, but have not charged him. Police there did charge Whittaker with failure to report the molestation that took place while she and her daughter, lived with Cramer, Whittaker said.

Investigators at the Tucson Police Department did not return The Monitor’s phone call Friday.

The girl reported the abuse to her mother and her mother’s family, who reported it to Child Protective Services in Arizona. Whittaker said she feared reporting the abuse because Cramer threatened to take away her children.

McAllen Police arrested Cramer on Oct. 7, 2004. Municipal Judge Kathleen Henley magistrated Cramer on one charge of indecency with a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault. She set his bond at $25,000 for each count.

He was also charged in Mercedes, where Municipal Judge Jesse Contreras set Cramer’s bond at $150,000. Contreras reduced the bond to $20,000 after the girl and her mother obtained a protective order against Cramer.

Mercedes Police Detective Jason Shafer said he investigated four of the alleged counts and interviewed the two girls.

"These girls were so credible," he said.

While living in Arizona, Cramer did not know McAllen and Mercedes police were investigating his actions in the Rio Grande Valley.

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Brittney Booth covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4437.