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Syracuse Basketball Coach Bernie Fine Investigated for Child Molestation

Bernie Fine, the longtime associate head basketball coach at Syracuse University, has been put on administrative leave after allegations surfaced that he sexually molested the team’s ball boy in the 1980s and 1990s.

Just two weeks after the child molestation charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky rocked that university, another college sex scandal is coming to light.
Longtime Syracuse University associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine has been accused of molesting the team’s ball boy over a period between the 1980s and 1990s. ESPN was the first to report the allegations.
The university released the following statement on Thursday:
"In light of the new allegations and the Syracuse City Police investigation, this evening Chancellor Cantor asked Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross to place Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine on administrative leave.” Fine is in his 35th season with the school’s basketball program.
In a separate statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the university said that in 2005 an adult male contacted the school saying that he was molested in the 1980s and 1990s. The man said Syracuse City Police had declined to pursue the matter because the statute of limitations had expired.
Bobby Davis, the alleged victim, told ESPN the abuse began in 1983 before he entered seventh grade. Davis, who is now 39, said that Fine molested him at Fine's home, at the basketball facilities at Syracuse, on recruiting road trips and even at the 1987 Final Four. In addition, Davis’ stepbrother said he was also molested by Fine around the same time, according to the report.
Syracuse City Police said they are still in the early stages of the investigation. A university spokesperson said it will cooperate fully with police.

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/GettyImages)

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