A former Wahiawa youth soccer coach was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison, ordered to register as a sex offender and fined $840 after he admitted sexually assaulting six boys.

Frederick Rames, who pleaded no-contest to six charges of third-degree sex assault in September, apologized to his victims, who were not in court but are aware of the plea agreement.

Circuit Judge Michael Wilson told Rames "you indulged in your sexual impulses and your lack of self-control reaffirms the need for sex-offender registration and the need for treatment."

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority will set the minimum sentence for Rames, who has been held at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center since he was arrested and will likely receive credit for time served.

By entering the plea agreement, Rames took responsibility for his actions, his attorney, William Harrison, said yesterday in court.

But Honolulu Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Douglas Chin argued Rames did not take the opportunity to assume full responsibility for his actions.

The sentence for Rames, 66, of Holua Way, was part of a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded no contest to eight counts of the least serious charges against him, third-degree sexual assault.

The victims were 7 to 12 years old, and the assaults occurred from 2002 to 2006.

Had Rames undergone a trial, he would have faced the more serious charges of first-degree sexual assault.

Harrison, Rames' attorney, said he plans to go before the parole board and hopes to have his client released.

"I think, under the circumstances, it was a good deal for everyone in the case, including my client, the state and the victims," Harrison said after the sentencing.

Yesterday's sentence ended a case that began last September, when Rames was arrested after a 7-year-old boy diagnosed with herpes accused Rames, his soccer coach, of sexually assaulting him.

At the time, Rames was a community activist well known in Wahiawa for his work with children. He operated a nonprofit corporation called Community Services Inc., as well as a tutoring program, KidsInNeed, which he said in a 2001 newspaper interview was aimed at helping some of the most impoverished elementary school children on the island.

Rames was also a soccer coach, a substitute teacher at Ka'ala Elementary and was licensed as a foster parent from December 2001 until his arrest last September.

Prosecutors have said the plea agreement was driven in part by consideration for Rames' victims.

Rames had been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, which carries a penalty of 20 years in prison, as well as 10 counts of the third-degree offense and two additional counts of witness tampering.

Police said victims reported that they had been contacted by Rames after his arrest.

The third-degree sex assault charge involves inappropriate touching or fondling but not sexual penetration.

Rames has been jailed since his arrest, unable to post $1 million bail.

Rames was first arrested in September 2006 before a youth soccer practice was about to begin near Ka'ala Elementary School.

The state removed three foster children from his home shortly after.

In October 2006, Rames was arrested again and charged with sexually assaulting a total of six boys.

That same month, more than 20 Rames supporters appeared in court to support him.

Many wore T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of Rames' Soccer Association for Youth.