HONG KONG – An American man accused of raping his daughter and posting videos of the abuse online has challenged a U.S. request to extradite him from Hong Kong, his lawyer said Thursday.

Kenneth John Freeman, who fled to China and was arrested in May while trying to enter Hong Kong, attended a court hearing Thursday during which the judge set a September court date to decide on the extradition challenge, lawyer Giles Surman said.

Hong Kong government lawyer Wayne Walsh said the judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to order Freeman turned over to the U.S.

Freeman has been charged in Washington state with three counts of child rape and jumping bail. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. He also faces federal charges of producing and distributing child pornography.

The 44-year-old bodybuilder, who used to be a volunteer reserve sheriff’s deputy, had been on the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s most-wanted list.

Freeman fled his home in Seattle last year after his 17-year-old daughter told her mother that he had assaulted her four years earlier. The teenager also went on national television to tell her story, which helped identify her as the victim in a series of child pornography videos on the Internet, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Freeman flew from Vancouver, Canada, to Hong Kong in March 2006, then to China, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Chinese authorities helped track down Freeman in the city of Suzhou, where he is believed to have been working as a computer adviser for a U.S.-based company.

Authorities waited to arrest Freeman in Hong Kong because mainland China does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Hong Kong is part of China, but is governed separately and has its own legal system.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)