By Michael Zennie and Mark Duell
Daily Mail
November 28, 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066909/Bernie-Fine-fired-Syracuse-basketball-coachs-wife-watched-husband-molest-Bobby-Davis.html
Three men say Bernie Fine molested them when they were boys
Bobby Davis taped a phone call with Laurie Fine in bid to prove abuse
Police and ESPN had tapes for ten years but didn't do anything
Federal agents raid Mr Fine's house after third victim comes forward
Coach Jim Boeheim supports decision and apologises for being 'insensitive'
Accuser Zach Tomaselli says Penn State scandal made him come forward
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| Fired: Bernie Fine has lost his job as head basketball coach at Syracuse University amid child abuse allegations |
Two alleged victims of Bernie Fine today praised Syracuse University for firing the former basketball coach accused of sex abuse.
Bobby Davis and Mike Lang claimed he 'got what he deserved' and the university did 'the right thing'.
Fine was fired last night just hours after damning new evidence suggested his wife watched him molest a boy staying at their house.
Laurie Fine allegedly told one of her husband's three accusers in a recorded phone call that she suspected he had done the same to other boys - but that she never did anything to stop it.
She is also said to have revealed that she slept with one of the victims, once he turned 18 - as it emerged that the tapes had been in the hands of police and ESPN for nearly ten years and no action was taken.
One of the alleged victims Mr Davis, now 39, says he secretly taped the conversation in 2002 in an effort to collect proof that the longtime college basketball coach had abused him, starting when he was 12 years old.
'I know everything that went on, you know,' she says on tapes played by ESPN's Outside the Line program.
'I know everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues, maybe that he's not aware of, but he has issues. And you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted.'
He said the university has 'done the right thing' by firing Mr Fine - and he hopes Mr Fine now knows ‘he is not invincible’.
Mr Fine has denied the allegations as 'patently false.' However, the upstate New York university last night fired the 65-year-old coach after putting him on administrative leave earlier this month.
'At the direction of Chancellor Cantor, Bernie Fine's employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately,' said Kevin Quinn, the school's senior vice president for public affairs.
SCROLL DOWN TO HEAR THE TAPE
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| Evidence: Bobby Davis (left) says he recorded a phone call with Mr Fine's wife, Laurie, (right) in 2002 in an effort to collect proof that he was molested |
Authorities have said if any crimes were committed, they are likely beyond the statute of limitation and no prosecutions can be made.
The phone conversation was verified by a voice-recognition analyst hired by ESPN.
Mrs Fine talks about the alleged abuse against Mr Davis in a matter-of-fact tone and suggests she has known about it for many years.
'But you never had any [sex act] with him?' she asks Mr Davis, who is an adult at the time of the phone call.
'No,' Mr Davis says. 'I think he wanted to, but...'
Mrs Fine: 'Oh, of course he would! Why wouldn't he?'
Mr Davis lived with the Fines in the basement of their house on and off throughout his childhood. He says Mr Fine began abusing him in 1984 when he was just 12 years old and in seventh grade.
He says Mrs Fine always knew something was going on and even caught her husband touching him when she peered through the blinds one night as she pretended to take out the trash.
It wasn't until that incident, when Mr Davis was in high school but still a minor, that Mrs Fine approached him and told him to stand up for himself. However, she never called police.
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