The former associate head coach of the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team, Bernie Fine, SYRACUSE -- will not be charged after a year-long investigation into sexual abuse.
Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler issued the following statement on the closure of the Bernie Fine investigation:
One year ago the Syracuse Police Department was presented with compelling evidence and allegations of child sexual abuse. Although this alleged abuse had occurred many years ago, we believed that it was our duty and obligation to conduct a thorough and intensive investigation in to this matter to be sure that there was no other current or ongoing abuse of children.
We also felt it was important to investigate whether any steps were taken to conceal this alleged abuse. This year long investigation has determined that no state or federal charges are possible at this time.
The Syracuse Police Department would like to thank our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office as well as all the federal and local law enforcement agencies that assisted us throughout this investigation.
Child sexual abuse continues to be very serious problem in our community. It is our responsibility to thoroughly investigate any allegations and to do our best to protect children from these predators. We encourage anyone that has any information on any current or past sexual abuse of a child to report it immediately to the Syracuse Police department or to the appropriate authorities.
