Syracuse's Fine is sex abuse scandle

Discussion in 'NCAA' started by kbgreen, Nov 18, 2011.

  1. kbgreen

    kbgreen Well-Known Member

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    This sucks! Sounds different than the Pennstate situation but this could really hurt SU. To me they look pretty credible but the police had investigated the first one and found could not find a second colaberating witness at the time. So now after seeing the pennState scandle come out a second accuser came.

    http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_...investigating-bernie-fine-molesting-boy-1980s

    Two former Syracuse University ball boys say they were molested by associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine, starting in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1990s.

    Police in Syracuse said they have opened an investigation into the allegations. And in a statement Thursday night, Syracuse said it has placed Fine on administrative leave.



    Fine

    One alleged victim, Bobby Davis, now 39, told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him beginning in 1984, shortly before Davis entered the seventh grade. Davis, the team's ball boy for six years beginning in 1984, said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at the Syracuse basketball facilities, and on road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.

    The second alleged victim, Mike Lang, now 45, is Davis' stepbrother and was also a ball boy for several years. He told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him starting when Lang was in fifth or sixth grade.

    Davis said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim saw him in Fine's hotel room on several of those road trips, but Davis said he never told Boeheim about the alleged abuse.

    Police stressed to Outside The Lines they are in the early stages of the investigation. Thursday evening, police told ESPN they were going to interview both men who made the allegations.

    Both men spoke in on-camera interviews with ESPN on Thursday night. Both described what they said were encounters with Fine, including reaching into their shorts and rubbing their genitals.

    "I didn't feel right about it," Lang said. "And I told him Bernie, 'please don't do that to me.' "

    Fine is in his 35th season as an assistant to Boeheim, who came to his defense.

    "I know this kid, but I never saw him in any rooms or anything," Boeheim told ESPN. "It is a bunch of a thousand lies that he has told. You don't think it is a little funny that his cousin (relative) is coming forward?

    "He supplied four names to the university that would corroborate his story. None of them did ... there is only one side to this story. He is lying."

    Kevin Quinn, Syracuse's senior vice president for public affairs, issued a statement on behalf of the school: "In 2005, Syracuse University was contacted by an adult male who told us that he had reported to the Syracuse City Police that he had been subjected to inappropriate contact by an associate men's basketball coach. The alleged activity took place in the 1980's and 1990's. We were informed by the complainant that the Syracuse City Police had declined to pursue the matter because the statute of limitations had expired.

    "On hearing of the allegations in 2005, the University immediately launched its own comprehensive investigation through its legal counsel. That nearly four-month long investigation included a number of interviews with people the complainant said would support his claims. All of those identified by the complainant denied any knowledge of wrongful conduct by the associate coach. The associate coach also vehemently denied the allegations.

    "Syracuse University takes any allegation of this sort extremely seriously and has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. If any evidence or corroboration of the allegations had surfaced, we would have terminated the associated coach and reported it to the police immediately. We understand that the Syracuse City Police has now reopened the case, and Syracuse University will cooperate fully. We are steadfastly committed ensuring that SU remains a safe place for every member of our campus community."

    Later Thursday, Syracuse issued another statement: "In light of the new allegations and the Syracuse City Police investigation, this evening Chancellor (Nancy) Cantor asked Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross, to place Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine on administrative leave."

    Messages were left for Fine, but were not returned.

    Boeheim supported his longtime assistant, who he first met in 1966.

    "We spoke to the people (Davis) asked the university to talk to," Boeheim said. "Not one person would corroborate his story."

    Boeheim added: "Why wouldn't he come to the police (first this time)? Why would he go to ESPN? What are people looking for here? I believe they are looking for money. I believe they saw what happened at Penn State and they are using ESPN to get money. That is what I believe. You want to put that on the air? Put that on the air."

    Davis said that Fine molested him at Fine's home, at the basketball facilities at Syracuse, on recruiting road trips and even at the 1987 Final Four. Davis said he was Fine's constant companion at all those places. He said Boeheim would come into Fine's room and see Davis lying on Fine's bed but never asked him any questions.

    Davis said sexual contact with Fine continued until he was around 27.

    Davis said he felt bitter emotions over the molestation as sex scandals have emerged in the Catholic Church and lately with former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

    Davis said he reported the abuse to Syracuse police in 2003, but that a detective told him that the statute of limitations had run out. Davis said the detective told him that if he knew of boys being molested by Fine at the time, that Syracuse police would investigate those allegations. Davis said he told the detective that he thought other boys were being molested but that he had only direct knowledge of Fine molesting him.

    At the time, the Syracuse police chief was Dennis Duval, a former Syracuse basketball player. Duval, who retired in 2004, could not be reached for comment. He played at Syracuse from 1971 to 1974 and started with the Syracuse Police Department in 1978. Boeheim became the head coach at Syracuse in 1976, but began as a graduate assistant in 1969.

    Outside the Lines investigated Davis' story in 2003 but decided not to run the story because there were no other victims who would talk, and no independent evidence to corroborate his story. In recent days, a second man, Lang, contacted Outside the Lines with information alleging that Fine had also molested him. Lang said he was inspired to talk after seeing news coverage of the Sandusky case.

    Davis said he first met Fine in 1983 while selling candy in his neighborhood door to door. Davis said Fine lived about four blocks from his home. Davis lived with his mother and didn't have a father living with him. He said he soon began to regard the generous Fine as a father figure.

    He said Fine was nice to him and invited him over to his house. Davis said that Fine eventually made him a Syracuse ball boy. Davis said he would travel with Fine to events such as the Big Orange Basketball Camp. Once, during the summer before his seventh grade year, he stayed over with Fine before the start of camp. That's when the abuse began, he said.

    "I would go on recruiting trips with him, stay in hotels with him," Davis told ESPN in 2003. "I stayed in many hotels with him. At the (1987) Final Four. I would get there a day earlier than Laurie (Fine's wife) and the kids sometimes and we'd spend the night all alone in a hotel room many times."

    He said that Boeheim knew he was traveling on the road and sleeping in Fine's room.

    "Boeheim saw me with Bernie all the time in the hotel rooms, on road trips," Davis said. "He'd come in, and see me laying in the bed, kind of glance at me like, 'What are you doing here?' But he wouldn't say that. He'd just scowl. And I would look at him like, I'd be nervous. I felt embarrassed 'cause I felt stupid that I'm there. I'm not supposed to be here. I know it, and Boeheim's not stupid."

    Boeheim denied seeing Davis in Fine's room.

    "He makes the point that he was around and traveling with the team," Boeheim said. "Not that I know of. I never saw him. He is quoted -- (that) I saw him in the room. I have never been in Bernie Fine's room in my life. That is an outright lie."

    A source told ESPN that Davis babysat Fine's children at one time.

    "He did travel a few times, and it was known that he babysat Fine's kids on trips," the source said.


    Davis said the abuse occurred several times at Manley Fieldhouse, where Syracuse used to play basketball games and the team had offices.
     
  2. kbgreen

    kbgreen Well-Known Member

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    Davis' mother, Cathy Pitts, said Thursday she didn't know about any of the allegations until he did an interview with ESPN in 2003.

    "I was very upset," she said of learning of the allegations then. "I wished I knew when he was little. I would have done something then. There was nothing I could do after the fact. He was older. He said he got it together, and he talked to a priest and got all kinds of guidance and counseling. He said he's fine. I believe him. He seems to be fine."

    She said when Davis was young, he "was with Bernie Fine quite a bit." She said he traveled with the team extensively, though she said he did not go on trips when an airplane flight was required because he didn't like to fly. The 1987 Final Four, where Davis said he went with Fine, was in New Orleans.

    She said she was unaware he was talking about this in recent days. "I really think he wants to be left alone," she said.

    Boeheim said his longtime assistant "tried to help this kid."


    "Bernie helped a lot of kids," Boeheim said. "He works with the Kidney Foundation. He works with Make-A-Wish. He works with three or four different groups. He has helped kids as I have. This is a kid that came up with all this stuff and it was all looked into for four months. The only new thing is his (relative) has come forward."

    Mark Schwarz is a reporter for ESPN's enterprise unit. Arty Berko is a producer. ESPN.com's Mike Fish and ESPN's Paula Lavigne also contributed to this report.
     
  3. GQMartin

    GQMartin Go 'Cuse

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    Bernie was my fraternity's chapter advisor.

    I had many interactions with him and never saw any behavior to lead me to believe he was capable of such horrible things.

    My buddy from college was a student assistant for the team. I'm going to contact him and see if I can get his insight.


    I find it hard to believe there's just 1 victim. The people afflicted with this sickness can't limit it to 1 victim...

    idk
     
  4. kbgreen

    kbgreen Well-Known Member

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    In this case the 2003 accusation was investigated and they could not find anyone else. Both the city police and SU ran investigations. The media also looked into it. I think that was why Jimmy B. defended him. The only thing that sticks out about this new accusation is it is the first guy's step brother.
     
  5. kbgreen

    kbgreen Well-Known Member

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    My hope is that SU acted properly and took all the steps it could to protect the kids. If they did this could be the example of how PennState should have acted in the Sandusky case.
     
  6. NYGalPal

    NYGalPal Well-Known Member

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    Did you guys hear this audio with Bernie wife? She admitted to knowing what Bernie was doing. Also admitted that she herself was having a sexual relationship with him too. Surreal! Oh, and ESPN has some serious explaining to do on why they sat with this audio for 9 yrs, and did nothing with it until now. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7286364
     
  7. nyjetsrule

    nyjetsrule Active Member

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    In case anyone cares... here is the email Nancy Cantor, current SU chancellor sent out to the entire student body about a week ago.

    got that email about a week ago. Current Grad student, so things are getting interesting here. But based on everything ive heard, including this email, its not a penn state thing. ESPN and a couple other media outlets investigated in 03, and found nothing. The university investigated in 05 and found nothing, and to date nothing else has been found out that wasnt previously known about (including the tape, which ESPN had in 03) for years. Although other accusers have since stepped forward, it still seems odd to me that based on the number of investigations done, nobody found anything, if there was anything to be found...

    For the sake of all involved, hopefully they are lying. Its better to be a liar than sexually abused/raped. Always.
     
  8. nyjetsrule

    nyjetsrule Active Member

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    the one lacking comparison here is that the allegations are from teh 80's and 90's and the university (according to the email I posted above) didnt find out until 05, and subsequently no one has stepped forward thats accusing him of abuse since they acted. So I don't know if the university could have protected the kids in the same way Penn State could have protected kids from Sandusky.

    so far 3 investigations have taken place (including two media outlets) and nothign has turned up. You have to believe if a media outlet could have dug something up, it would be out. It would probably make somebodies career to blow it into the open. So I have to believe if anything was out there to find, it would have been found by now.
     
  9. mystikol

    mystikol New Member

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    That's a pretty poorly-written e-mail. Thanks for sharing, though.
     
  10. Johnny English

    Johnny English Well-Known Member

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    Unintentional irony is presumably unintentional.
     
  11. GQMartin

    GQMartin Go 'Cuse

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    I listened to the phone call.

    It's pretty damning. Dunno how admissible it will be though.
     
  12. mystikol

    mystikol New Member

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    I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to; I was referencing, for example, the run-on sentences, awkward wording, and the use of contractions in a formal e-mail. Multiple typos, too.
     
  13. nyjetsrule

    nyjetsrule Active Member

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    admissibility should be irrelevant here. The truth is the only thing that matters. if Fine did these things, then he should be spending time in jail for life, right across the hall from sandusky.

    It all seems pretty sketchy outside the tape. But the tape is pretty damning, if his wife believes it, then there is something fucked up going on. How could she not go to the police if she suspected? but nothing we can do but wait until more information is uncovered.
     
  14. ukilledkenny

    ukilledkenny You bastards!

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    The wife is fucked in the head too. She ended up banging the same kid that her husband molested.
     
  15. GQMartin

    GQMartin Go 'Cuse

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    I don't know.


    It's sad. The collateral damage will take Boeheim down if he knew anything.
     
  16. nyjetsrule

    nyjetsrule Active Member

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    Well boeheim made his claim last night in his statement that he knew nothing, and saw nothing of sort or had any indication Fine was interested in these sorts of things.

    In that Article i posted about Fine being fired, they discussed the 3rd guy who came forward, his father vehemently denies this can possibly be true. He (not the father) is accused of sexually molesting a 14 year old boy himself. However, he didnt ask the SUPD for assistance with his legal problems upon coming forward...

    I don't know what to think. Based on the info we have, it all seems rather undamning, outside the tape. But clearly the wife is fubard in the head as well as UKK pointed out. Yet its hard not to think that there is at least some truth to the allegations if the wife believes them. I don't know what to think. I just hope that Boeheim didnt do something stupid ala Paterno.

    But before we hang the SU program due to collateral damage, lets establish Fine's innocence or guilt first. Unlike the Sandusky case, this is anything but cut and dried....
     
  17. kbgreen

    kbgreen Well-Known Member

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    To me that tape is huge! Bernie and his wife should be in jail! Why did ESPN sit on the tape? did they have it? I think that tape would have gotten Bernie fired in 02'. Not sure if there are any more victoms after that but his wife and whoever had that tape have some explaining to do!

    The third accuser seems like a guy who is trying to deflect from his own legal issues. but with the tape now out the focus will fall off him. 3 accusers makes it seem like there is a lot of smoke building on this one.
     
  18. BK_Jetsfan

    BK_Jetsfan New Member

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    Not sure why it seems odd. Sex abuse is a really difficult thing to cooberate. Male on male sex abuse is even tougher to investigate because men don't like admitting what happened. I'm not attacking you (I hope you don't think I am), just saying this is a difficult thing to come forward with. And 2 different investigations, now a third (all involving I guess the same kids), doesn't look right. Who knows.
     
  19. greenbeanz

    greenbeanz Well-Known Member

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    what i dont get is how his wife goes and starts an affair with this kid AFTER finding out her husband abused him.

    does this not give off a vibe that, maybe, the wife and this kid are out for cash?

    think about it. get the media fired up. launch an investigation. go to criminal court. file civil suit. run off and leave bernie high and dry.

    there are just so many strange things in this story that the possibility of this kid and his wife being in kahoots and trying to get over on him cant be ignored
     

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