Bernie Fine Accuser Zach Tomaselli Facing Child Molestation Allegation
The credibility of Zach Tomaselli's case against Bernie Fine might be in doubt over news that he is also dealing with sexual abuse allegations of his own and trying to suppress a videotaped confession.
Tomaselli, the third accuser to levy claims that Fine molested him, was charged in April on charges of gross sexual assault, tampering with a victim, two counts of unlawful sexual contact, five counts of visual sexual aggression against a child, and unlawful sexual touching.
According to the Lewiston Sun Journal, Tomaselli is accused of exposing himself multiple times to a now 14 year-old boy and eventually sexual molesting the young boy. He is currently trying to fight against a videotaped confession that his attorney claims was coerced during a three-hour long interview.
The case's closing arguments were finished on Thursday, but the judge has yet to rule on the case. Despite the current lack of ruling, Tomaselli took to his Facebook on Thursday night and didn't sound optimistic.
At this point it seems like I could be headed to jail to get abused all over again... I get counseling and admit I have a lot to work on yet the district attorney wants to throw my life away and give me lifetime sex offender registry and jail time? Have you ever tried getting a job or moving on with the label sex offender over your head? Yet my father who abuses me for years gets off free and clear and Bernie gets to sit in his huge house watching kiddie porn? I take responsibility for putting myself in this position but this is the first time I have begun to feel a true hatred towards my two abusers.
The 23 year-old has publicly denied the charges, but also alluded that he might be guilty of inappropriate contact with a minor. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Tomaselli admitted that there was a disconnect in his mind about what an appropriate relationship with a child entailed.
It does not explain and is not an excuse for touching children, Tomaselli stammered. And I'm not saying that I touched anybody, Anderson, but I am saying that the situation that I was in, um, the situation I put myself in to be accused, um, was because there a was great disconnect in my mind of what is an appropriate relationship in my mind between an adult and a child.
He has accused Fine of molesting him in 2002 when he was only 13 years old. Tomaselli claims that he met Fine after a Syracuse autograph session and that the former assistant coach invited the young teenager to the basketball's team upcoming road trip.
On the road trip, Tomaselli claims that Fine put on pornography on a television and made the young boy begin to masturbate to the lewd material. From there, he claims it eventually descended into Fine sexually molesting him for several hours.
Fine has called all allegations against him patently false, and Tomaselli's own father doubts his son's story. Alfred Tomaselli told the Daily News on Thursday that his son is telling lies about Fine. He has said in the past that his son never met Fine at an autograph session or traveled with the team on road trips.
Zach Tomaselli has previously accused his father Alfred of sexual abuse, but a two-week investigation in June didn't turn up any evidence. The elder Tomaselli has flatly denied all of Tomaselli's allegations.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.