By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A former assistant football coach at Reading High School was charged with sexually molesting three teenage girls, according to an indictment released Thursday.

A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Brian Dragesic, 34, of Reading, on five charges of rape and six charges of gross sexual imposition.

In two of the cases, Dragesic is accused of using a threat of force, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said.

Dragesic's attorney, Barry R. Levy, could not be reached for comment.

Dragesic was hired as an assistant football coach in August and was also a volunteer track coach at the school. He never taught in the district. He is no longer volunteering and has no employment status with the district, according to Reading school officials.

His coaching duties played no part in the assaults, Allen said.

The investigation started in April after a 13-year-old girl complained to a school counselor that she had been sexually assaulted at Dragesic's Dottie Court home.

Dragesic was arrested May 18, according to court records.

He's since been held in the Hamilton County Justice Center.

Each of the five rape charges stem from alleged assaults on one 13-year-old girl, according to the indictment. The charges of gross sexual imposition involve other illegal sexual activity with that girl and two of her friends.

If convicted, Dragesic faces up to 80 years in prison.

E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com