PITTSBURGH, PA -- The third accuser in the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case has retained one of the top attorneys in the country when it comes to cases of child sexual abuse.
Jeff Anderson hails his firm on his website for having "pioneered the use of civil litigation to seek justice of childhood sex abuse." He goes on to claim his firm is "recognized as the nation's premier law firm to represent victims of clergy sex abuse."
When reached by phone Tuesday, Anderson would not confirm that he was representing Zach Tomaselli. With regard to the Syracuse case being pursued against former Syracuse associate head coach Bernie Fine, Anderson said, "I have been following the case and have been deeply concerned about it."
Zach Tomaselli traveled by charter plane from Lewiston, Maine to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday with Anderson. Tomaselli says the attorney plans to file a civil lawsuit in Pennsylvania in connection to the allegations that the longtime assistant to Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim abused Tomaselli in a Pittsburgh hotel room.
Tomaselli has claimed he was molested by Fine after taking a bus to Pittsburgh at Fine's invitation to watch Syracuse play the Pittsburgh Panthers in January of 2002.
Anderson has commented in his own blog on the Syracuse University case. "Jim Boeheim and others at Syracuse who allowed Bernie Fine to continue working as an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse for the past six years since these allegations have surfaced, need to be trained and educated on mandatory reporting and child protection," wrote Henderson.
Jeff Anderson and Associates is representing a victim in the Penn State University child sex abuse scandal. He has also represented numerous child victims of clergy.
Bernie Fine has called all of the child molestation accusations "patently false".
