After a probe spanning nearly a year, U. Attorney Richard Hartunian said Friday there was not enough evidence to support a claim that Bernie Fine had molested a boy in a Pittsburgh hotel room in His lawyers, Karl Sleight, Donald Martin and David Botsford, said in a statement that they were not surprised by the decision.
The investigation erupted in the glare of a spotlight on child abuse shone by the Penn State University scandal, which broke shortly beforehand. Davis said the sexual contact continued for years. But the claims by Davis and Lang had happened too long ago to be prosecuted. Ten days later, though, a third man, year-old Zachary Tomaselli, of Lewiston, Maine, went public with an accusation that Fine had molested him in in a hotel room when the team played in Pittsburgh.
Bernie Fine, who denied the allegations, was fired Nov. The federal statute of limitations that went into effect in allows prosecution until the victim reaches age 25; Tomaselli was 23 when he made his claims. He said that people should come forward with tips if they have any more information. Davis did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday. When Davis and Lang came forward in November, Boeheim angrily defended his assistant of 35 years and said the accusers were only out for money, seeking to cash in on the publicity generated by the Penn State scandal, in which former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexually abusing several boys.
That left Tomaselli, who was accused of sexually abusing a boy at a camp in and whose father had said the boy was lying. Tomaselli, who eventually was convicted of sexual abuse and started a prison sentence of three years and three months in April, insisted Friday that he was telling the truth about Fine. Before he went behind bars, Tomaselli took the media on a wild spin, repeatedly lying in a bid, he said, to keep his name in print:. Then he said that was a lie.
He said sports figures have too much power and that may contribute to no one believing him, and he thanked law enforcement officials for thoroughly investigating his allegations even after his credibility was called into question. While his No. Boeheim, who just completed his 36th year coaching Syracuse, vehemently supported his longtime assistant when the accusations broke and said Davis was lying.
