A Freeport man accused of trying to sexually abuse a young girl in Merrick faced a judge Saturday.

Police say they arrested Alex Ramirez, 26, in connection with an incident that happened on Aug. 10.

They say two 9-year-old twin sisters were riding their bikes to their grandmother's house in Merrick when one spotted Ramirez exposing himself while sitting on his bike.

One of the girls rode back to tell her parents, but police say Ramirez grabbed the other sister and tried to pull down her pants.

She was able to get away and return home safely.

Shortly after the incident, the parents told News 12 that their daughters are doing OK and say the girls did the right thing by telling them what happened right away.

"I'm proud of my children," the mother says. "If anything can get anything out of this, it's have the talk with your children. They need to understand when they're uncomfortable and something like this happened to them. They need to contact their mom and their dad or anybody around."

The father says he's thankful to the police department and everyone else who helped catch the suspect.

Ramirez was arraigned on several charges including attempted sex abuse, public lewdness and endangering the welfare of a child.

The judge ordered Ramirez to be held on $200,000 partially secured bond and also ordered two orders of protection to keep him away from the girls.

His attorney says this is a case of mistaken identity. His client entered a plea of not guilty and says he will fight the charges.