JEFFERSON COUNTY, Alabama - A Hueytown man arrested last month for sexually abusing young boys under the age of 12 now faces nearly 40 charges involving 10 victims.

New charges against Jason Tobias Kreider, 33, were filed in Jefferson County this week, court records show. Authorities have previously said the victims belong to families Kreider befriended. Investigators learned he would tell the children that if they told anyone, they would be placed in DHR custody and taken from their loved ones.

Authorities in late October announced 16 charges against Kreider involving three boys. Kreider is now charged with 38 crimes involving 10 boys.

The charges include sodomy, sex abuse of a child under the age of 12, enticing a child for immoral purpose and facilitating the travel of a child for an unlawful sex act.

The abuse reportedly took place over an 18-month period. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office detectives launched their investigation on Oct. 21. They interviewed Kreider two days later, and he denied committing any sex acts with children.

Authorities aren't discussing details of the cases because of the sensitive nature of the cases and the victims' ages. Kreider is being held in the Jefferson County Jail. He has a no-bond order on one of the sodomy charges; bond on the rest of the charges totals nearly $1.5 million.

Kreider will appear in a Jefferson County courtroom next week on the charges, court records show. One of his attorney's, Sam Dixon, said it's early in the case. "You're innocent until proven guilty,'' Dixon said. "He hasn't been convicted of any of the charges."

Sheriff's officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the new charges, but Sheriff Mike Hale has previous discussed the allegations against Kreider.

"I'm so sorry for all of the young victims that endured this terrible suffering and their families that this suspect took advantage of by winning their trust and using that trust to prey on his victims,'' Hale said in late October. "Our hope is that he never sees the light of a free world again and this will forever be the end of this terrible and sick string of abuse."

"It was very brave of these young ones to speak out and I'm very proud of them for that. Without question they were the key to putting a stop to it and they have saved others a lot of heartbreak down the road," the sheriff said. "They are going to need a lot of strength and love and prayers moving forward to restore their lives and I know they will get all of that and more."