A defense lawyer for a former soccer coach accused of molesting six boys is seeking to suppress a statement his client made to police investigators in the case.

Frederick N. Rames, 65, of Wahiawa, was indicted by an O'ahu grand jury on Oct. 10, 2006, on charges of sexually assaulting six boys ages 7 to 12 from 2002 to 2006. He is also accused of trying to get three of them to lie to police.

Rames was charged in the indictment with 15 counts of third-degree sex assault, first-degree sex assault and tampering with witnesses. He's accused of molesting the boys and performing oral sex on two of them.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Wilson is expected to rule on the motion Thursday.

Rames' attorney, William A. Harrison, yesterday said his client was coerced into giving an incriminating statement and that he is innocent of the charges.

"He was tired when he made the statement, he had not slept in a day when he made the statement and he was not coherent when he made the statement," Harrison said. "It is our position that there was not a knowing and intelligent waiving of his rights."

The city prosecutor's office declined comment yesterday.

According to court documents, on Oct. 6 Rames gave a voluntary statement to police in which he "admitted to touching" two boys "with his hand and stated he was teaching them how to masturbate."

Police said Rames waived his constitutional right to remain silent and have an attorney present, and made a voluntary statement after he was arrested Sept. 21 on suspicion of sexually assaulting two boys, ages 7 and 12.

The younger boy played on a soccer team coached by Rames and the older boy was a foster child in Rames' care.

Rames was charged Sept. 23 with six counts of third-degree sexual assault and released on $150,000 bail.

Rames was arrested again Oct. 5 on charges that he sexually assaulted four other boys.

The new charges involve boys ages 7 to 12 who were allegedly sexually assaulted beginning on July 24, 2002, police said. Two of the boys were in Rames' foster care and two played on a soccer team coached by Rames.

Rames was also charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault, 14 counts of third-degree sexual assault and four counts of witness tampering.

The witness-tampering counts result from reports by four of the boys that they had been contacted by Rames after his Sept. 21 arrest.

He told them by phone "to lie to the police and to tell the police that he (Rames) never touched them," according to a court document.

Two counts of first-degree sex assault each carries a mandatory maximum 20-year prison term. Rames' 10 counts of third-degree sex assault are each punishable by up to five years in prison, and the three counts of witness tampering each carry up to a year in jail.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.