Ex-Boulder City football coach pleads not guilty to new sexual misconduct charges

Boulder City High School’s former varsity football coach pleaded not guilty Monday to new sexual misconduct charges, and a dispute may be brewing about whether he can have contact with his own children.

Frank Mariani, 46, known as “Coach Bubba,” was indicted last week on counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 16, child abuse, neglect or endangerment and lewdness in the presence of a child or vulnerable person.

Some of those charges are new, while others date back to his prior case in Boulder City Justice Court. The allegations stem from Boulder City accusers and newly disclosed victims from a separate school whose allegations date back nine years, according to prosecutors.

State records show Mariani taught at Desert Pines High School from 2011 to 2023.

Mariani’s bail was set at $150,000 last week after he was indicted, but he appeared in court out of custody Monday wearing a blue suit. Defense attorney James Oronoz said Mariani had posted the bail.

Oronoz declined to comment after the hearing. Mariani ignored a reporter who asked him for comment.

Boulder City police have accused Mariani of misconduct that included slapping players’ buttocks, instructing a player to create an AI-generated video of two other players kissing, talking about dreams of him having sex with minors and reaching for a player’s genitals, according to an arrest report. He also is accused of showing his underwear to players in a locker room and moving his genitals.

His indictment indicates the two victims whose allegations have been newly charged are both female. He is accused of slapping the buttocks of one and rubbing himself against the buttocks of the other. He is also accused of touching the second new victim’s breast in a classroom.

Mariani’s bail conditions include high-level electronic monitoring and no contact with victims or children.

“He does have children, though,” Oronoz said to Senior District Judge Michael Villani. “I’m assuming that doesn’t apply to them.”

Oronoz then said prosecutors were indicating the condition did apply to Mariani’s children. He said the defense would file a motion to resolve that issue.

Prosecutor Michael Allmon said after court that prosecutors’ position is that Mariani should not have contact with his own children.

“You have multiple victims who do not know each other giving similar accounts,” Allmon said previously. “It’s an insidious type of grooming that he does where he essentially gropes and commits lewd acts upon the children in class, in front of everyone, to keep them from reporting it.”

Mariani’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 8.