A Massachusetts girls’ high school basketball coach is accused of pressuring a student into drinking alcohol — and giving her tequila shots — before he allegedly raped the 18-year-old, according to authorities and news reports.
The man, Scott Marino, was arrested Wednesday, February 25, on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery and one count of furnishing alcohol to a person under 21, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release shared that day.
Marino, 54, who lives in Stoneham, coaches at Malden High School and teaches math to seventh graders at the Linden STEAM Academy in Malden, CBS News reported.
He is accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old on February 18, according to the district attorney’s office.
Marino’s defense attorney did not immediately return Us Weekly’s request for comment on Friday, February 27.
In court during Marino’s arraignment on Thursday, February 26, prosecutors said that the girl was a player on the basketball team he coaches and had been living with him and his wife as a foster care placement, according to NBC Boston. The teen had reportedly been staying with Marino and his wife since the fall of 2025.
The day of the alleged assault, the 18-year-old had attended an Ash Wednesday mass with Marino and a grandfather who also lives at Marino’s home, prosecutors said, the TV station reported.
After dropping the grandfather off at his house, Marino reportedly had the 18-year-old drive to get takeout food in Boston before they visited a liquor store.
At the store, surveillance footage captured Marino buying strawberry margarita mix, Patron and another type of liquor, according to prosecutors, NBC Boston reported.
“At some point during the evening, the defendant [poured] shots of tequila for each of them,” Prosecutor Jacob McCrindle said in the courtroom, according to CBS news.
Marino is accused of pressuring the 18-year-old to drink alcohol.
Marino also allegedly made the girl a margherita, kept requesting “that she drink more” despite the teen telling him that she did not like the drink, McCrindle said, according to the Boston Herald.
The teen ultimately vomited and lied down somewhere in the house, according to McCrindle.
Afterward, Marino was said to have raped her, the Boston Herald reported.
“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,” McCrindle said, NBC Boston reported.
McCrindle said that Marino’s wife was not home during the alleged assault and accused Marino of planning the attack, according to NBC Boston.
Dr. Timothy Sippel, the Superintendent of Malden Public Schools, said in a statement shared with CBS News that Marino has been put on leave.
“I understand how upsetting and distressing this is to our community given the serious nature of these allegations … The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority,” Sippel said.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

