Syracuse head basketball coach Jim Boeheim and Chancellor Nancy Cantor each released a statement about an hour after Syracuse University announced that associate basketball coach Bernie Fine had been fired amid child molestation allegations.
Fine has been investigated by officials over the past two weeks for allegedly molesting two team ball boys—Bobby Davis, and his stepbrother Mike Lang—in the 1980s and 90s. The University announced in a statement Sunday night that it had decided to fire Fine.
“The allegations that have come forth today are disturbing and deeply troubling,” Boeheim said in his statement. “I am personally very shocked because I have never witnessed any of the activities that have been alleged.
“I believe the university took the appropriate step tonight. What is most important is that this matter be fully investigated and that anyone with information be supported to come forward so that the truth can be found. I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse.”
In her statement, Cantor echoed Boeheim’s sentiments.
“Frankly, the events of the past week have shaken us all,” the statement said. “The taped phone call that ESPN revealed today was not provided to the university by Mr. Davis during the 2005 investigation by our legal counsel.
“Like the media review of the case a few years earlier, no other witnesses came forward during the university investigation, and those who felt they knew Bernie best could not imagine what has unfolded.”
The news came the same day after two additional damaging pieces of news were released by the Syracuse Post-Standard and ESPN.
The ESPN report involved a recorded telephone conversation between Bobby Davis, the man who first accused Fine of molesting him, and Fine’s wife, Laurie, back in 2002, where Laurie acknowledged Fine’s conduct.
Around the same time ESPN released the audio tape, the Post-Standard reported that a third man, Zach Tomaselli, was also molested by Fine in 2002.