New accuser sues Fine in Pa.
The man claims the ex-Syracuse assistant molested him in a Pittsburgh hotel in '02.
Former Syracuse University assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine was sued by a man alleging he was sexually abused as a 13-year-old in a Pittsburgh hotel room.
Zach Tomaselli, who emerged in recent weeks as the third person to accuse Fine of sexual abuse, filed the civil lawsuit Thursday in Pennsylvania state court in Pittsburgh. Fine is named as the sole defendant.
Syracuse fired Fine, in his 36th season at the upstate New York university, on Nov. 27 after he was accused of sexually abusing two former ball boys. At a news conference in Syracuse on Wednesday, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Fine won't face charges related to those allegations because the claims are too old to prosecute.
One of the former ball boys, Bobby Davis, now 39, contacted police in 2002 and said Fine abused him when he was in seventh grade. The other ex-ball boy, Davis' stepbrother Mike Lang, now 45, made his allegations this year, saying Fine abused him when Lang was in fifth or sixth grade, according to ESPN.
Tomaselli said last month that his desire to support Fine's other accusers prompted him to come forward with accusations that Fine molested him in 2002 in the Pittsburgh hotel. Federal authorities are investigating those allegations, and evidence related to the case will be turned over to the U.S. attorney and defense lawyers, Fitzpatrick said Wednesday.
Karl Sleight, an attorney for Fine, didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Tomaselli's complaint. Donald Martin, another attorney for Fine, declined to comment and said he knew nothing about the lawsuit.
In a statement Wednesday, the lawyers said they were looking forward to reviewing "exculpatory materials" in the case.