The head of the Marin County coroner’s office was brought before a judge Monday to face child molestation charges in a case that has stunned many in the law enforcement community.

Darrell Alan Harris, ashen and wearing a striped jail uniform, kept his face lowered for much of the initial hearing and did not enter a plea. Judge Andrew Sweet continued the arraignment until May 15, and Harris was taken back to his jail cell.

His wife and one of his children watched the hearing in the courtroom audience and departed quickly afterward. Outside court, defense attorney Douglas Horngrad said Harris denies the allegations.

“The unanimous reaction is shock” among people who know Harris, Horngrad said. “No one can believe it to be true.”

As the chief deputy coroner, Harris is among the most public figures at Marin County’s consolidated sheriff’s department and coroner’s office. Harris, a 45-year-old San Rafael resident, left work abruptly Thursday as criminal charges were being considered, sources said.

Local authorities notified other law enforcement agencies to look for him. Police detained him in Eureka.

Harris remained at the Humboldt County Jail through the weekend with bail set at $750,000. His bail amount was not addressed during the hearing Monday.

Harris is charged with four felony molestation counts involving one victim, according to the complaint filed Friday by the Marin County District Attorney’s Office.

The charges include one count of continuous sexual abuse of a girl under 14 years old between May 2008 and May 2011. Under the relevant section of the penal code, the law applies to “any person who either resides in the same home with the minor child or has recurring access to the child.”

The other counts, which include charges such as lewd acts and oral sex with a minor, cover various periods from 2011 to 2015. The accuser was between the ages 14 and 17 during that span.

A fifth count, a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, involves the same alleged victim after she turned 18. That charge covers a period from May 2015 to March 2017.

The weightiest charge is continuous sexual abuse of a child, which carries a potential sentencing range of six to 16 years in state prison. The charges also carry the possibility of lifetime registration as a sex offender.

No additional details about the investigation were released Monday. The alleged crimes occurred in Marin, but the case was investigated by the Santa Rosa Police Department because of Harris’ law enforcement ties in Marin.

The San Rafael Police Department asked Santa Rosa police to take over the investigation on Thursday, said Santa Rosa police Sgt. Terry Anderson. Santa Rosa police worked on the case Thursday and Friday, he said.

San Rafael police Chief Diana Bishop said her department’s investigation began Wednesday with a missing person report.

“Later that evening we learned there may have been a crime,” Bishop said in an email. “Santa Rosa PD was contacted early on May 4, 2017 and agreed to do the investigation.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dori Ahana, the Marin prosecutor who filed the charges, declined to comment on whether authorities have searched electronic records for evidence.

Harris has been a Marin coroner’s investigator since 2003. In October 2015, Harris was promoted to chief deputy coroner and placed in charge of the office.

Before joining the Marin office, Harris was a coroner’s investigator in Alameda County. He is also a part-time commercial photographer who publishes under the name D. Alan Harris.