Wife Of Former Syracuse Coach Plans To Sue ESPN

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/16/us/syracuse-coach-allegations/index.html

Laurie Fine, the wife of a former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach accused of molesting ball boys, plans to sue ESPN and two of the network’s reporters for libel in a federal court, her lawyers said Wednesday.

A draft of the lawsuit says reporters Mark Schwarz and Arthur Berko, spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine’s reputation in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

It says Fine’s reputation was ruined by the malicious publication of false and defamatory accusations.

Fine is expected to break her months-long silence Wednesday to talk about the accusations against her, her lawyers said.

Among the false accusations Fine lists in the lawsuit are:

— Creating a space in which children could be sexually molested in secret.

— Witnessing her husband sexually molest children, but not doing anything to

stop it.

— Knowingly permitting the sexual molestation of children in her home.

Her husband, Bernie Fine, was fired from Syracuse in November after several ball boys came forward and said the basketball coach molested them.

Bernie Fine, who has not been charged with a crime, has maintained his innocence, saying shortly after the allegations surfaced that they were “patently false in every aspect.”

Former Syracuse ball boys Bobby Davis and his stepbrother, Mike Lang, were the first to step forward publicly last year with allegations against Fine.

Wife Of Former Syracuse Coach Plans To Sue ESPN

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/16/us/syracuse-coach-allegations/index.html

Laurie Fine, the wife of a former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach accused of molesting ball boys, plans to sue ESPN and two of the network’s reporters for libel in a federal court, her lawyers said Wednesday.

A draft of the lawsuit says reporters Mark Schwarz and Arthur Berko, spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine’s reputation in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

It says Fine’s reputation was ruined by the malicious publication of false and defamatory accusations.

Fine is expected to break her months-long silence Wednesday to talk about the accusations against her, her lawyers said.

Among the false accusations Fine lists in the lawsuit are:

— Creating a space in which children could be sexually molested in secret.

— Witnessing her husband sexually molest children, but not doing anything to

stop it.

— Knowingly permitting the sexual molestation of children in her home.

Her husband, Bernie Fine, was fired from Syracuse in November after several ball boys came forward and said the basketball coach molested them.

Bernie Fine, who has not been charged with a crime, has maintained his innocence, saying shortly after the allegations surfaced that they were “patently false in every aspect.”

Former Syracuse ball boys Bobby Davis and his stepbrother, Mike Lang, were the first to step forward publicly last year with allegations against Fine.