KINGSTON —The owner of Lakeside Restaurant in Kingston is facing charges after two former female workers accused him of sexually assaulting them as teenagers.

Peter B. Merchant, 61, of 34 Worcester St., Haverhill, Mass., will be arraigned next week on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault.

According to police complaints, Merchant is accused of inappropriately touching a female employee between October 2008 and March 2009 while using his “position of authority” as her employer. The girl was between the ages of 13 and 18 at the time, the complaints said.

Other charges allege that Merchant sexually assaulted another female worker between October and December 2002. One complaint said Merchant locked himself and the girl, who was 16 at the time, in a bathroom stall where he allegedly touched her inappropriately “under false imprisonment circumstances.” Police said the assaults occurred at the 22 Main St. restaurant overlooking Kingston Lake

Merchant was arrested Jan. 18 and released on $15,000 personal recognizance bail.

The restaurant owner, who has operated Lakeside for more than two decades, pleaded guilty in 2003 to misdemeanor charges of prohibited sales in district court after he was accused of providing alcohol to two underage female workers at his restaurant.

Merchant was arrested in December 2002 after an investigation by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department. He was given a suspended jail sentence and fined. The State Liquor Commission also suspended the restaurant's liquor license for a week.

The restaurant was closed on Tuesday, and Merchant could not be reached by phone at his home in Haverhill.

Merchant is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in Plaistow.