Bernie Fine Investigation: Fine’s Wife Discusses Allegations In 2002 Phone Recordings

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:

“I know everything that went on, you know,” Laurie Fine said on the call, obtained by Outside the Lines from Davis. “I know everything that went on with him ... Bernie has issues, maybe that he’s not aware of, but he has issues ... And you trusted somebody you shouldn’t have trusted ... ”

She continued: “Bernie is also in denial. I think that he did the things he did, but he’s somehow through his own mental telepathy has erased them out of his mind.”

[...]

“Do you think I’m the only one that he’s ever done that to?” Davis asked.

“No ... I think there might have been others but it was geared to ... there was something about you,” Laurie Fine said.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering,” Davis said. “Like I’m wondering why I was like the worst one.”

“I don’t know,” Fine said.

[...]

“And, it’s hard ... ” Fine said. “If it was another girl like I told you, it would be easy to step in because you know what you’re up against. ... (When) it’s another guy, you can’t compete with that. It’s just wrong, and you were a kid. You’re a man now, but you were a kid then.”

At another point in the call, Fine says of her husband: “You know, he needs ... that male companionship that I can’t give him, nor is he interested in me, and vice versa.”

[...]

“It’s about the d---. I know that. So you’re -- I’m just telling you for your own good, you’re better off just staying away from him,” Fine said.

If this recording is deemed admissible in court, it would be a huge blow to Fine’s defense.

(h/t SB Nation New York)