Frazier Gets House Arrest on Sexual Abuse Charges

BRADENTON – Former Manatee High Football Coach and Parent Teacher Liaison Rod Frazier will escape jail time over charges that he inappropriately touched students, staff and faculty, as part of a plea bargain entered into Wednesday.

Frazier pled no contest to three misdemeanor counts of battery and three counts of interfering with a student's attendance. He will serve six months of house arrest and three years of probation, while surrendering his teaching and coaching certificates.

He will also be required to complete 90 days of an offender work program. In exchange for his plea, the state attorney's office agreed to drop four additional charges of battery, along with one additional interference charge.

Surrendering his licenses essentially means that Frazier will not be able to coach or teach at a Florida public school for the rest of his life.

In July, prosecutors charged Frazier with seven counts of first-degree misdemeanor battery and three counts of interfering with a student's attendance in July, after an investigation that stemmed from one student's accusations that while a student at Manatee, he would pull her out of class, arrange meetings outside of school and routinely fondle her, tell her he loved her and ask her to send him naked photos.

Rather than report the allegations to the Department of Children and Families, the school district instead conducted an internal investigation and returned Frazier to work after just one day and in time for the football team's first-round playoff game that evening.

When the Sarasota Herald Tribune broke the story of the girl's allegations, the Bradenton Police Department launched an investigation that ultimately led to Frazier's arrest, along with four administrators to be charged with failing to report the allegations.

When current Superintendent Rick Mills came on board in the midst of the scandal, he ordered another internal investigation, which led to five administrators being put on unpaid suspension. Two resigned, while the other three remain on indefinite suspension while facing charges.