REDWOOD CITY -- Opening statements in the trial of a prominent San Mateo child psychiatrist accused of molesting several patients in the 1990s will be heard in San Mateo County Superior Court Tuesday, more than two years after the doctor was arrested for the alleged crimes.

William Ayres, 77, once president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, faces multiple felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14.

Ayres' trial has been delayed numerous times since his arrest in April 2007. He is out of custody in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Ayres allegedly fondled seven boys between the ages of 9 and 12 who had come to him for counseling from 1991 to 1996, but prosecutors claim there are about 30 other victims whose alleged molestations fall outside the statute of limitations.

His defense attorney Doron Weinberg has claimed the accusations by former patients were likely the result of a mistake, false memory or suggestion.

If convicted, Ayres faces up to life in prison, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.