Bernie Fine Investigation: Laurie Fine Sues ESPN For Libel

Laurie Fine addressed the media Wednesday morning and stated that she “never engaged” in the “despicable” acts reported by ESPN during its coverage of the molestation charges levied against her husband, former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.

Earlier in the day, Fine’s attorneys filed a complaint in U.S. District Court claiming ESPN, reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Arthur Berko “spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine’s reputation” during its coverage of the sexual abuse allegations against her husband late last year. The suit also claims ESPN’s actions were done largely “in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State Abuse Scandal” centered around former Nittany Lion assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Claiming that the network “destroyed her reputation,” Laurie Fine, the wife of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, is suing ESPN for libel.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court (read the full complaint here), the attorneys for Laurie Fine say ESPN, reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Arthur Berko “spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine’s reputation” during its coverage of the sexual abuse allegations against her husband late last year. The suit also claims ESPN’s actions were done largely “in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State Abuse Scandal” centered around former Nittany Lion assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The wife of former Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine had sex with a number of SU players over many years, according to an affidavit by one of the ball boys Fine is accused of molesting.

In the affidavit, former ball boy Bobby Davis talks about hearing Laurie Fine and the wife of another Syracuse coach talk about performing oral sex on players, and the “specific size and physical attributes” of their private parts.

Zach Tomaselli, the third accuser in the Bernie Fine molestation case, has admitted to falsifying emails that he sent to the Syracuse Post-Standard and The Daily Orange.

Tomaselli also told the Post-Standard that he will ask the Syracuse police to end their investigation of Fine, the former Syracuse basketball assistant who was fired by the university in November.

One of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine’s accusers admitted to lying about the allegation that the coach touched him inappropriately over 40 years ago, according to the Associated Press.

Floyd VanHooser, 56, is currently in prison and confessed in a letter that he fabricated stories in interviews with police as well as in December interviews with the Associated Press and Syracuse’s Post-Standard. VanHooser admitted that he lied in order to exact revenge against Fine for not hiring a lawyer to help him fight a criminal conviction.

A 56-year-old New York prison inmate is the fourth man to accuse former Syracuse basketball assistant coach Bernie Fine of molestation.

Floyd VanHooser, who is serving 16 years to life for burglary and petty larceny, told The Post-Standard (Syracuse) that he was 14-years-old when Fine, then a middle-school gym teacher, first molested him. He says that once he became an adult, the pair’s relationship included VanHooser performing sex acts for Fine in exchange for money.

Via Syracuse.com:

When he initially learned of the latest round of accusations, Boeheim defending Fine, calling Davis and Lang “liars” and insisting that they were only out for money. Now, in a twisted O’Henry bit of logic, they will be asking for financial compensation from Boeheim himself.

Onondaga County (NY) District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said today that two claims of sexual abuse against former Syracuse basketball assistant coach Bernie Fine are credible, but that he won’t pursue a state case because the accusations are too old to be prosecuted.

Former Syracuse ball boys Bobby Davis, 39, and Davis’s stepbrother Mike Lang, 45, both accuse Fine of sexually abusing them when they were juveniles. Fitzpatrick called the pair credible witnesses, and said their claims would have led to Fine’s arrest were it not for the legal statute of limitations on such crimes.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim backtracked a second time in less than a week from comments questioning the motives of Bernie Fine’s alleged molestation victims. Last Sunday, Boeheim released a statement, saying, “I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse.” Following ‘Cuse’s win over Florida on Friday, Boeheim distanced himself even further from his initial comments.

When allegations surfaced in November, Boeheim vehemently accused Fine’s alleged victims of lying. On Friday, Boeheim pledged to help raise awareness of child abuse, saying that he “acted without thinking” out of loyalty to his former assistant coach.

Zach Tomaselli, the 23-year-old who earlier this week became the third man to accuse former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molestation, is now going into extreme detail about his relationship with Fine.

In an interview with the Kansas State University student newspaper, Tomaselli talks about meeting Fine at an autograph session, forming a relationship and eventually being invited to travel with the Syracuse basketball team on a trip to Pittsburgh. Tomaselli claims it was on this trip that Fine first molested him.

In the first game since longtime assistant Bernie Fine was fired by the university, Syracuse overwhelmed Eastern Michigan, 84-48, somewhat reinforcing embattled head coach Jim Boeheim’s refrain that his team would not let the continuing scandal distract them from basketball.

The story of the game, of course, was not basketball, but rather Boeheim’s first press conference since Fine’s firing, which he said he supported in a statement. You can find full video of the press conference here, but here are some of the highlights:

Robert Hoatson, president and founder of Road to Recovery, says that he has spoken to the family of a fourth alleged victim of Bernie Fine and that they are in touch with the Syracuse Police and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office.

Hoatson, who has not spoken with the alleged victim directly, says the victim was in their teens when the alleged abuse occurred (via New York Daily News).

Just as they did with Penn State following the Jerry Sandusky allegations, the U.S. Department of Education is looking into Syracuse University in regards to the accusations of sexual molestation against former assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.

According to the Cleary Act, “colleges and universities are required to disclose the number of criminal offenses on campus that are reported each year,” the Department of Education’s news release states. Further, “the institution must issue a timely warning if a reported crime represents a threat to the campus community” in certain instances.

Fine’s nephew, Matt Govendo told CNN early Monday that Laurie Fine will make a statement Tuesday challenging the recording, claiming that it has been tampered with. Mrs. Fine refuted those claims to local news station WYSR.

Her appearance on CNN this evening does not seem to be scheduled but rather an ambush discussion akin to Armen Keteyian’s interview with Mike McQueary.

Jim Boeheim released a statement Sunday night expressing regret for statements he made earlier this month defending former assistant coach Bernie Fine, who is facing molestation charges. Boeheim supported the decision of Syracuse University to fire Fine earlier in the day:

Boeheim came to the side of his longtime assistant after allegations that Fine molested a former Syracuse ball boy resurfaced. At the time, Boeheim called Fine’s accuser a liar, citing the victim’s inability to produce corroborating witnesses. Boeheim’s statement is certainly a big step away from his initial reaction, and looks like an attempt to distance himself from the case as a whole.

Zach Tomaselli told Syracuse police Wednesday that Orange associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused him as a child, according to Syracuse.com.

The 23-year-old Lewiston, Maine, native told police that in 2002, Fine molested him in a Pittsburgh hotel room. Two days after Tomaselli and his friend, Rose Ryan, told police of the alleged assault, U.S. Secret Service searched Fine’s home and took with them three file cabinets as well as Fine’s cell phone and a computer that wasn’t his.

Recorded phone conversations between Bobby Davis, the man accusing Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine of sexual abuse, and Fine’s wife, Laurie Fine, were recently aired by ESPN’s Outside the Lines. In the recordings, Laurie Fine acknowledges the alleged abuse by her husband, telling Davis “I know everything that went on,” and, “You trusted somebody you shouldn’t have trusted.”

Davis originally gave ESPN the recordings in 2003 but decided not to report the allegations when no one would corroborate his story. Now that Fine is being officially investigated, ESPN decided to air the recordings. Here are some excerpts from their conversation:

Bernie Fine’s house was searched by several police agencies on Friday afternoon, reports the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Fine is being investigated following allegations from two men who say they were sexually molested by the Syracuse assistant coach when they were teenagers. Bobby Davis, one of the alleged victims, initially reported the allegations in 2002 but was apparently told by the police they would not investigate because the statute of limitations had expired.

Syracuse quickly mobilized as allegations of child molestation against basketball assistant coach Bernie Fine were made public on Thursday evening. Shortly after the ESPN report on the allegations levied by a former Syracuse ball boy, the university released a statement acknowledging the report and asserting the school had investigated the claims in 2005, finding no wrongdoing.

Now, Syracuse has taken the next step, placing Fine on administrative leave, according to CNY Central,

The school, however, released a statement claiming that they were aware of the investigation that began in 2005 and conducted their own investigation. In the statement, Syracuse said it was unable to find evidence of wrongdoing during an internal investigation at the time.

Via

According to ESPN, Syracuse police are in the early stages of their investigation.

A relative of Davis’ has also told Outside The Lines that he was molested by Fine around the same time.