A Butler man pleaded not guilty to accusations of repeatedly raping and assaulting a minor last year.

Danny T. Nichols, 37, appeared briefly in court Tuesday for formal arraignment. In the county jail's orange jumpsuit, Nichols sat with several other Butler County Prison inmates. Quiet for most of his appearance, he spoke with his public defender, Joseph Smith

Police initially spent multiple days in December searching for Nichols over accusations that he strangled a girl, leading to his arrest on Dec. 5. But after the victim spoke with authorities, a slew of more serious charges related to sexual assault were added.

The victim recounted to authorities an alleged weekend of sexual assaults that included forced alcoholic consumption and general abuse. The alleged incidents occurred so often during the weekend leading up to Nichols' arrest that she had trouble recounting specifics, according to police documents.

From this interview, police filed the following charges: three charges of rape, one count of raping a substantially impaired person, four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old, four counts of aggravated indecent assault, one count of strangulation and another count of corruption of a minor, all of which are felonies.

Additionally, he faces the following misdemeanor charges: four counts of indecent assault, simple assault and furnishing liquor to a minor.

His bond is set at $200,000 and he is being held in Butler County Prison.

He was arraigned Dec. 5 on the original felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple assault. In that case, bond was set at $75,000.