Former Syracuse Police Chief Knew of Bernie Fine Allegations

A former Syracuse police chief knew about the Bernie Fine allegations in 2002, but did not pass them along to the district attorney's office, according to a new report.

Dennis DuVal, who played basketball at Syracuse University from 1972 to 1974, was informed of the child molestation allegations against Fine in 2002. DuVal would end up retiring from the position in 2004, but never passed along the information according to district attorney William Fitzpatrick.

The Syracuse Police Chief at that time, Dennis DuVal, was made aware of the allegations against Bernie Fine, current Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler said on Tuesday.

Bobby Davis, one of Fine's accusers, said that he went to the Syracuse police department in 2002, but was told by police detective Doug Fox that he was too old to do anything about the allegations.

Davis, a former Syracuse ball boy, claims that Fine molested him for over 10 years as a Syracuse assistant basketball coach. In addition to going to the authorities, he also went to ESPN and the Syracuse Post-Standard with his allegations, but neither news organization published a story on the allegations due to a lack of corroboration.

It wasn't until after the allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky went worldwide and the emergence of a second Fine accuser, Mike Lang, that Davis was able to get the police and news organizations to take another look at his story.

The Syracuse police department is currently investigating Fine, who has since been fired from his coaching position, over whether he molested young boys. Fine initially called Davis' allegations patently false, but a tape recording released on Sunday indicates that his wife, Laurie, sides with Davis.

I know everything that went on, you know, Laurie Fine told Davis in a recording released by ESPN. I know everything that went on with him.

Laurie Fine would go on to admit that she knew that her husband was taking advantage of Davis, including recalling a disturbing Jacuzzi scene, but never took any measure to stopping the abuse.

She even appeared to admit to her own relationship with Davis when she told him that she probably messed him up a bit too.

But despite ESPN confirming the authenticity of the tape recording, a relative of Laurie Fine said on Monday that she will contest the veracity of the tapes.

Matt Govendo, the nephew of Laurie Fine, told CNN that she will admit that it is her voice, but that it is all tampered with.

Pressure on Boeheim?

After Bernie Fine's dismissal on Sunday night, the pressure has turned to long-time Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. No one has accused Boeheim of having knowledge of the alleged incidents, like Joe Paterno did of Jerry Sandusky's alleged abuse incidents, but some have taken umbrage with his initial comments decrying the true nature behind Davis' allegations.

After Davis and Lang come forward with stories of Fine's alleged child abuse, Boeheim called the two liars and said they were likely trying to just capitalize on the Penn State scandal dominating the headlines.

It is a bunch of a thousand lies that he has told, Boeheim said defiantly. You don't think it is a little funny that his cousin (relative) is coming forward? He supplied four names to the university that would corroborate his story. None of them did ... there is only one side to this story. He is lying.

Boeheim would go on to say, Why would he go to ESPN? What are people looking for here? I believe they are looking for money. I believe they saw what happened at Penn State and they are using ESPN to get money. That is what I believe.

The coach of the 2003 NCAA champions has backtracked considerably from those initial comments, but it still might not be enough.

A sexual abuse support group called for Boeheim's dismissal on Monday for his harsh comments against the two accusers.

I think Jim Boeheim should be fired or resign as well, Rev. Robert Hoatson of Road to Recovery told the Associated Press. These boys were members of the basketball program. Jim Boeheim's responsibility is to oversee that program, and the children were not safe on his watch.

ESPN reported on Monday night that Boeheim has no plans to resign from his position over the Fine scandal. A source close to Boeheim said that he was hoping to just get through the whole ordeal.

He's not going to resign, the source said. He's like (UConn's Jim) Calhoun - old warriors. He'll get through this.