SYRACUSE (AP) Federal authorities have dropped their investigation into one of the sexual abuse claims that cost a Syracuse University assistant basketball coach his job, threw a top-ranked team into turmoil and threatened the career of the Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim.
After a probe spanning nearly a year, Richard S. Hartunian, the United States attorney for the Northern District of New York, said Friday there was not enough evidence to support a claim that the coach, Bernie Fine, had molested a boy in a Pittsburgh hotel room in 2002.
The nature and seriousness of these allegations, which involved conduct typically committed in private with individuals who are reluctant to come forward, warranted a thorough federal investigation, said Hartunian, who added that closing the investigation did not mean something did or did not happen.
It was unclear whether Fine, 66, could get his job back.
Fines lawyers, Karl Sleight, Donald Martin and David Botsford, said in a statement that they were not surprised by the decision.
The damage inflicted upon Bernie and his family is simply immeasurable, the lawyers said. Bernie hopes and prays that the lesson learned and remembered is that a rush to judgment has irreversible consequences.
The investigation erupted in the glare of a spotlight on child abuse shone by the Penn State scandal, which broke shortly beforehand.
