State child welfare officials have suspended the license of a Wahiawa foster parent charged with sexually assaulting two boys — one a 7-year-old and the other 12.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for Frederick N. Rames called the accusations "ridiculous."

"He's totally innocent of these charges," attorney William Harrison said last night. "There is no substance to them whatsoever and we're going to prove that."

Lillian Koller, director of the Department of Human Services, would not release any information about Rames, 65, including if he was ever subjected to a background check.

"The Department of Human Services will not release any information at this time about Mr. Fred Rames because, after speaking with a representative of the Honolulu Police Department today, we do not want to compromise the active criminal investigation and prosecution of this man whose foster license has been suspended," Koller said in a written statement released yesterday.

Although the department said licensed foster parents receive a state and federal criminal background check and a thorough review of their home, financial status and references, it would not discuss whether Rames was screened.

Police were similarly tight-lipped about Rames, who was charged Saturday with six counts of third-degree sexual assault in cases that involve a 7-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy.

"We don't want him to know what we are doing," said Capt. Frank Fujii, police spokesman. "The investigation is ongoing."

Rames was arrested Thursday, but is free after posting $150,000 bail.

The charges prompted child welfare officials to remove three foster children from Rames' home.

Harrison said Rames could not have passed on a venereal disease because "I can tell you for a fact that my client doesn't have disease. You've clearly got the wrong person."

Harrison said the 12-year-old boy had been one of Rames' foster children, while the 7-year-old was a player on a soccer team coached by Rames.

Harrison said the accusers are originally from Micronesia and that "there are language issues here."

"I really feel bad for Frederick," Harrison said. "He's been community-minded, trying to help all these kids. Like the old saying, no good deed goes unpunished. Even after we clear him, these allegations will stay with him the rest of his life."

Those who help train Hawai'i's foster parents found the case disturbing and worried it would cast an unfavorable light on foster parents. But they say a sexual predator can sometimes hide behind a smile.

"There are a lot of people out there who are not what they seem," said Barbara Wright, who served as training director for the Hawaii Foster Parent Association for six years. "It makes you want to weep."

According to court documents, Rames divorced his only wife in 2003 and has not remarried. A check of his criminal history through the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center revealed no convictions in the state of Hawai'i.

In his 2003 divorce filing, Rames listed himself as a self-employed, substitute teacher.

He is listed as the director of a nonprofit tutoring group incorporated in 2001 and the founder of Soccer Association for Youth, a nonprofit established in 1991. Single men have provided excellent foster care to children, said Sarah Casken, the association's executive director. But a determined predator can slip by child welfare advocates, she said.

"Somebody right now is going, 'Oh my gosh, I licensed him and I didn't see that at all,' " she said.

Jeff Glover, the statewide coordinator for licensing for Hawaii Behavioral Health, which annually investigates, trains and recommends about 210 potential foster parents for the state, said only a handful are ever rejected.

Given his work in the community, the accusations against Rames have surprised Glover, he said.

"It is always shocking when it's someone that engaged in the community," Glover said. "I hope it is false and there is some misunderstanding. It is a huge blow to the community and a huge blow to foster parenting."