Bernie Fine
/ SUAthletics.com
SYRACUSE -- The Syracuse Police Department is asking anyone with information about any past or recent sexual abuse cases involving Bernie Fine to contact the Syracuse Police Department at 315-442-5222. All calls will be kept strictly confidential.
The Syracuse Police Department Special Victims Unit is currently conducting an investigation into sexual abuse allegations that were brought to the Police Department on Thursday November 17, 2011. The allegations being made by the victims that came forward with new information Thursday occurred many years ago but the Syracuse Police Department has a responsibility to thoroughly investigate all these allegations. The purpose of this investigation is to determine if there had in fact been any sexual abuse in the past and if there are any current victims.
Friday morning, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick told CNY Central that he’s concerned with the handling of the investigations into alleged sexual abuse allegations against Bernie Fine in 2003 by Syracuse Police and in 2005 by Syracuse University. Fitzpatrick says they “didn’t follow protocols” to notify his office of the investigation. (Listen to interview)
Fitzpatrick said that Bernie Fine’s accusers were interviewed by Syracuse Police last night. His office has been in direct contact with the Syracuse Police Department which re-opened an investigation into the allegations against Fine. The D.A.’s office is awaiting the results of the police investigation.
Syracuse University issued an official statement Thursday night, saying, "Syracuse University takes any allegation of this sort extremely seriously and has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. If any evidence or corroboration of the allegations had surfaced, we would have terminated the associate coach and reported it to the police immediately
The school placed Bernie Fine on administrative leave Thursday night "in light of the new allegations and the Syracuse City Police investigation." ESPN said the accusations were made by two former ball boys.
The Chancellor's message said, "We are aware that many wonder if university administrations are willing to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing that may disrupt a successful sports program. I can assure you I am not, and my fellow administrators are not. We hold everyone in our community to high standards and we don’t tolerate illegal, abusive or unethical behavior—no matter who you are.”
