SAN JOSE — A longtime San Jose Police Department officer made his first court appearance Thursday on charges alleging he sexually abused a girl whose mother he met while participating in a county-run parent guidance program over a decade ago.

Saul Duran, who joined SJPD in 2003, was arrested July 7 and charged last month following his own department’s criminal investigation into allegations that he molested two teenage sisters from 2008 to 2010. Prosecutors only filed criminal charges for one of the reported victims because the statute of limitations precluded charges for the other.

Duran, 48, appeared in a San Jose courtroom to answer to five felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor aged 14 or 15 and is on administrative leave from the police department. He remains free on $250,000 bail, but Judge Hector Ramon imposed new release conditions that prohibit him from having access to firearms and ammunition, having unsupervised contact with minors except for his children and volunteering with organizations that serve minors.

Ramon issued two protective orders barring Duran from having any contact with the sisters who accused him of abusing them. Separately, his police licensing with the state has also been suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Duran did not enter a plea and did not speak during the hearing. His attorney objected to the imposing of release conditions beyond bail, arguing that given the time that has passed since the alleged crimes, there was no basis to treat Duran like an active threat to public safety or youth. But he was overruled by Ramon.

Duran’s next opportunity to enter a plea in the case would be at a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 16.

The criminal charges are based on an investigation launched June 18 after the sisters came forward to SJPD with accounts of Duran abusing them. Authorities say he met the women’s mother while participating, in his official capacity as an officer, in the Santa Clara County Parent Project, which is run by a coalition of public agencies including the county district attorney’s office and Office of Education.

The project, according to its website, aims to help parents “with difficult or out-of-control adolescents” and teach them “specific prevention and intervention strategies for destructive behaviors.”

According to the police investigation, the crimes occurred after Duran violated the program’s policy and had contact with the girls, then 14 and 15 years old, outside the boundaries of program activities and events. He apparently gained the family’s trust and was thought to be a good influence on them, earning their mother’s permission for him to spend time with them.

Duran was reportedly fired from the Parent Project after he was the subject of complaints that he was spending time with women and girls in the program during off-hours. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said last month that while the behavior did not warrant criminal scrutiny at the time, it was concerning in hindsight, and that the program is reevaluating the vetting and training of its instructors.

Rosen added that while the older sister’s claims will not be the basis of criminal charges, they remain relevant to the case. She could testify at a prospective trial, the DA said, adding that accounts of sexual acts that occurred after the charged victim turned 18 could still be introduced as potential evidence.