A federal probe into accusations of sexual abuse against a former Syracuse University basketball coach was dropped on Friday after almost a year with no charges being filed against Bernie Fine.
The claims, made in the wake of the Penn State University pedophilia scandal involving gridiron assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, accused Fine of molesting a boy in a hotel room in Pittsburgh in 2002.
“The nature and seriousness of these allegations, which involved conduct typically committed in private with individuals who are reluctant to come forward, warranted a thorough federal investigation,” US Attorney Richard Hartunian said.
The accusation came last year and forced Fine, 66, out of his role as an assistant coach to Jim Boeheim and with the Orangemen ranked as the top college team in the United States.
“The damage inflicted upon Bernie and his family is simply immeasurable,” Fine’s lawyers said in a statement. “Bernie hopes and prays that the lesson learned and remembered is that a rush to judgment has irreversible consequences.”
Fine, who denied the allegations, was fired last November when the federal government began investigating Zachary Tomaselli’s claim he was abused in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room.
Hartunian said closing the investigation did not indicate what did or did not take place, only that there was insufficient admissible evidence to obtain a conviction in the case.
Accusations against Fine by two former team ballboys, Bobby Davis and Michael Lang, were beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution.
Federal probe ends with no charges against Fine
