The Syracuse University men's basketball program has been in the national spotlight recently for not its play on the hardwood, but its scandal involving long-time assistant head coach Bernie Fine, who has been accused of sexual abusing two former ball boys -- Bobby Davis and Mike Lang. For just over a week, there has been water-cooler talk about how credible Davis' and Lang's accusations to ESPN and the Syracuse Police Department were, but now, thanks to some secret 2002 recordings between Davis and Bernie Fine's wife, Laurie, there seems to be little room for criticism.
In the recordings, Laurie, via telephone, discusses with Davis the sexual molestation of Davis by Fine. During the discussion Laurie admits that Fine has issues and that possibly one day those issues will come back and haunt him. Here is one of the discussions recorded by Davis:
Davis: He wanted to do me. He wanted me to touch him, too. He tried to make me touch him a couple of times. He'd grab my hand, and then I'd pull away, and then he'd put me in your bed, and then you know, put me down, and I'd try to go away, and he'd put his arm on top of my chest. He goes, 'If you want this money, you'll stay right here.
Fine: Right. Right ... ," Laurie Fine said. "He just has a nasty attitude, because he didn't get his money, nor did he get what he wanted. He didn't get ...
Davis: It's not about the money.
Fine: It's about the d---. I know that. So you're -- I'm just telling you for your own good, you're better off just staying away from him.
Here is more from Laurie Fine:
"I know about everything that went on. I know, everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues. Maybe, some that he is not aware of but he has issues...
"...You trusted somebody that you shouldn't have trusted..."
"...Bernie is also in denial, I think that he did the things he did, but, some how through his own mental telepathy he erased them out of his mind..."
At one point during the conversation, Davis asked Laurie if he was the only one Bernie molestated.
"No... I think there might have been others but it was geared to... There was something about you,."
Also on Sunday, the Syracuse Post-Standard has reported that a third accuser, Zach Tomaselli, has come foward and said that Fine molested him in a Pittsburgh hotel room in 2002.
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