Bernie Fine won’t face state charges, but feds a different story
Dec 7, 2011, 7:45 PM EDT
This happened in the Bernie Fine case Wednesday morning.
It’s not that Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick didn’t buy the accusations against the former Syracuse assistant coach. It’s that he can’t do anything about it because the statute of limitations related to the sexual molestation charges by Bobby Davis and Mike Lang had passed.
“Bobby, I’m sorry it took so long,” Fitzpatrick said. “I wish I had met you as a prosecutor in 2002. Even more importantly, I wish I had met you as a prosecutor back in the 1980s. We wouldn’t be here today.”
(His full statement can be seen here.)
However, this isn’t over for Fine.
The accusations by a third man, Zach Tomaselli, 23, may still apply. His claims do fall within the accepted period. And the feds are on the case. From the AP:
Investigators searched Fine’s home, office and school locker, looking for pornography that could be used “to sexually arouse or groom young males” to have sex, court records say. The investigators took computers, cameras, disks and records, among other things. They’re also looking for any records that would detail Fine’s contact with boys.
However, Fitzpatrick isn’t completely buying Tomaselli’s story, stating “there is proof that Tomaselli fabricated this allegation.” Fitzpatrick isn’t charge of that case, though.
That statement did not amuse Tomaselli.
“I found that highly inappropriate,” he told The Post-Standard. “He really knows little or nothing about the case.”
This case is far from over. But perhaps things are finally a little less murky.
Related stories:
- Orange unbeaten, but they’re still not the story in Syracuse
- Statements on Fine’s firing by Boeheim and Syracuse’s chancellor
Follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC
-
- florida727 - Dec 8, 2011 at 8:26 AM
-
How is Fitzpatrick’s comments any different than Boeheim’s? Fitzpatrick is, essentially, saying that Tomaselli is a liar. If Boeheim gets dragged through the mud, so should Fitzpatrick for his “insensitive” remarks on the matter. Absent clarifying what that proof actually is, he has no business making the comment he did. State the proof, then you’ve earned the right to call Tomaselli a liar, if, in fact, that’s what he is.
-
- wegonnadoitbaby - Dec 8, 2011 at 11:49 AM
-
florida727 – Dec 8, 2011 at 8:26 AM
Obviously you have not been paying attention. Fitzpatrick stated that he turned the “FACTS” over to Fines defense attorneys as required by law. Those facts included that Victim 3 was accounted for in school 100s of miles from the location of where he said he was molested. Victim 3 NOW says his Dad MUST have changed the school records. Wow, his Dad knew years ago that his son would need to be counted present at school because Bernie Fine would be accused of molesting him on that day and he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to Bernie Fine, even though he didn’t know him. It’s all a big conspiracy against ” Victim” 3, who only said something when he was facing prison time for sexually molesting a boy and the case was all over the media. Hey, he’s a victim, we can’t scrutinize his story for validity…he’s a victim bygod!. All facts and common sense out the window.
Also, “Victim 3″ could have remained anonymous. Against the wishes of the Syracuse Police and the Feds, HE took the story public and to the media and detailed the allegations specifically. If you go to the media first you can’t cry about someone commenting about you in the same media you used. That’s a fact, but he’s a “Victim” so it doesn’t count. He is a convicted victimizer…. and the facts call into serious question his claim of being a victim.
