SAN DIEGO -- A Mexican national, deported 10 or more times, and charged with committing sexual assaults at Miramar Lake and in Poway several years ago, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 felony counts.

Carlos Ceron Salazar, 30, was jailed last week following his arrest on a drunk-in-public rap in Escondido, according to police.

At his arraignment today, Judge David Szumowski said the defendant was in custody on an immigration hold and set bail in the sexual assault case at $500,000.

Salazar faces a maximum of 38 years in prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza.

The defendant was charged with two counts each of assault with intent to commit rape and attempted rape, four counts of rape by a foreign object, and one count each of attempted raped with a foreign object, sexual battery and false imprisonment.

The most recent sex crime attributed to Salazar involves a female jogger attacked at Miramar Lake around noon on Dec. 8, 2006. The victim told investigators that her assailant grabbed her and forced her to the ground, but let her go when she fought back.

"She bit him so hard that when he pulled his hand away, two of her teeth were ripped from her mouth," San Diego police spokeswoman Monica Munoz said. "The victim was able to get away and call for help."

Detectives got a sample of the attacker's DNA via the victim. Though a computer database check revealed no match, witness statements led authorities to identify Salazar as the suspect in the case, according to Munoz.

By then, however, immigration officials had deported Salazar. Police investigators asked border authorities to notify them if the suspect tried to enter the country illegally.

Last week, police in Escondido arrested Salazar on suspicion of public inebriation. When they took a DNA sample and ran it against computer records, it matched Salazar to a 2-year-old assault in northern San Diego, Munoz said.

Salazar's genetic profile was also allegedly consistent with that of the perpetrator of a September 2004 sex assault in Poway, she said.

Based on evidence in these two cases, detectives believe the suspect may be responsible for more crimes, she said.

Salazar has been deported at least 10 times, according to Lauren Mack, a public information officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Another suspect was originally arrested and charged in the 2004 case, but charges were dismissed when DNA exonerated that suspect, Espinoza said outside court Wednesday.

Szumowski scheduled a status conference for Jan. 7. A readiness conference was set for Jan. 12 and a preliminary hearing, which will determine if there's enough evidence to order Salazar to trial, is scheduled for Jan. 14 at the downtown courthouse.