A Massachusetts basketball coach is accused of raping a student under his foster care and providing the underage victim with alcohol.
Scott Marino, 54, appeared in Woburn District Court on Thursday to face charges stemming from an alleged incident in which prosecutors say he gave an 18-year-old female high school student margaritas and shots of tequila before sexually assaulting her inside his home, according to WBTS.
Marino reportedly works as the head coach of the Malden High School girl’s basketball team and as a Linden School educator, teaching students in grades kindergarten through eighth.
The victim was living in foster care with Marino and his wife at the time of the alleged incident, the outlet reported.
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Prosecutors allege Marino and the victim attended mass on Ash Wednesday last week before driving into Boston to pick up a seafood dinner and drinks from a local liquor store.
Upon arriving at Marino’s Stoneham home, prosecutors said the coach poured the victim a margarita and a shot of tequila.
The victim told Marino she did not like the drink, but he continued urging her to drink more, prosecutor Jacob McCrindle said, according to the Boston Herald.
When the victim subsequently began feeling sick to her stomach and went into her room to lie down, Marino allegedly sexually assaulted her, the outlet reported.
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“This was, clearly some planning went into this, to go get dinner, to provide drinks and engage in the type of behavior that he did over the course of the night,” McCrindle reportedly said.
Following the alleged assault, the victim used her phone to contact friends and an aunt, who then called 911 and drove to Marino’s home, according to WCVB.
When the victim’s aunt arrived, the young woman came “running out of the home,” prosecutors reportedly said. She was subsequently transported to a local hospital for a full sexual assault examination.
While in court on Thursday, Marino’s defense attorney reportedly pointed to his lack of criminal record and current teaching profession.
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“He’s never been in court for his life. He’s a lifelong member of the community. He’s been a coach, he’s been a teacher,” defense attorney Kevin Mullen said, according to the outlet.
Mullen declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
However, McCrindle looked to the victim’s foster care relationship with Marino, expressing that the alleged crimes are especially dangerous given the coach’s caretaker role.
“This is a relationship where the defendant was the victim’s foster parent. He took her into his home. That’s a position of trust, as well as coupled with the fact that the defendant is a teacher, or was a teacher at the Malden Public Schools, and he was also her coach for many years,” the McCrindle said, according to WBTS.
An unnamed woman who played on Marino’s basketball team for four years told WCVB that the charges have left her in disbelief.
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“Very, very shocked,” she said. “It’s something that I would have never expected at all because I knew him for four years and he was somebody that I looked up to, and he was a great mentor. It’s hard to try to process.”
Marino was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over and one count of selling or delivering liquor to a person under 21, according to the outlet. He was released on $75,000 bail following his court appearance Thursday and has been placed on leave from Malden Public Schools.
“The district is fully cooperating with relevant law enforcement agencies in their investigation, which is ongoing,” Malden Public Schools Superintendent Timothy Sippel said in a statement to WCVB.
“I understand how upsetting and distressing this is to our community, given the serious nature of these allegations. We thank you for your continued commitment to our students and our district community. The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.”
Malden Public Schools did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Tessa Hoyos contributed to this report.
