Report: Fine accuser admits to lying

Published November 20, 2014

Zach Tomaselli, the third man to accuse former Syracuse men's assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexual abuse, told a Central New York newspaper that he made up the entire story.

Fine was fired in November amid allegations of sexual abuse by former ball boys Bobby Davis and Mike Lang.

Tomaselli was the third person to come forward after Davis and Lang made their accusations. Tomaselli had alleged that Fine sexually abused him in Pittsburgh during a Syracuse road trip in 2002.

The Syracuse Post-Standard published parts of an interview recorded with Tomaselli on Thursday.

"I'm ready to step forward and admit that I fabricated the Bernie Fine story," Tomaselli told the Post-Standard. "It's just become an amazing burden and I just can't handle it anymore. One lie led to another."

According to the paper, Tomaselli said he lied because of previous sexual abuse he suffered and because he hates the Syracuse basketball team for beating Kansas in 2003 to win the national championship.

Tomaselli was sentenced earlier this week to 39 months in a Maine state prison for sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy in 2009.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/report-fine-accuser-admits-to-lying