Despite questions surrounding the legitimacy of the claims from the three people accusing Bernie Fine, former associate head coach of men’s basketball at Syracuse University, of sexual molestation, experts say the false reporting of sexual abuse is rare.

In 1998, Education Week published a report that found 244 cases in a six-month period involving allegations ranging from unwanted touching to sexual relationships. Of those 244 cases, only two were found to be false, said Robert Shoop, director of the Cargill Center for Ethical Leadership at Kansas State, adding that the Education Week report is the most thorough to date.

‘So it was less than 1 percent of the accusations that turned out to be false,’ he said. ‘And that’s a very strong research study. It’s not just someone’s opinion or someone’s guess.’

But the delay in reporting sexual abuse is extremely common, Shoop said. All three accusers of Fine waited until they were adults to report the abuse to authorities.

‘You have to understand that the victims of these abuse cases are victims generally over a period of time and engaged in a wide variety of sexual activities and with a powerful person that basically says, ‘Who are they going to believe? You — a 12-year-old kid? Or me — the most popular, powerful person in the town?’ So the fear of disbelief is huge,’ said Shoop, citing the sexual abuse scandals at Pennsylvania State University and SU.

Fine, who was placed on administrative leave by the university on Nov. 17 and fired Sunday night, allegedly molested Bobby Davis, now 39, starting in 1984 when Davis was in seventh grade. Mike Lang, Davis’ stepbrother and a former Syracuse ball boy, corroborated Davis’ story and accused Fine of molesting him. Lang coming forward allowed ESPN to run the story on Nov. 17 revealing the alleged abuse by Fine, said David Scott, director of communications for ESPN’s news content.

Davis spoke to Syracuse police over the phone about the allegations in mid-2002 but was told the statute of limitations had expired. SU launched its own investigation in 2005 after an adult male reported inappropriate conduct by an associate men’s basketball coach to the Syracuse Police Department. The investigation lasted nearly four months and ‘all of those identified by the complainant denied any knowledge of wrongful conduct by the associate coach,’ said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, in a Nov. 17 statement.

About a week after the initial allegations broke against Fine, a third accuser told police Wednesday that Fine sexually abused him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room when he was 13. Zach Tomaselli, of Lewiston, Maine, is now 23 and facing sexual assault charges involving a 14-year-old boy in Maine.

But his father, Fred Tomaselli, said he never met Fine or allowed his son to attend the Pittsburgh game in 2002. Fred Tomaselli said his son was a victim of abuse by a neighbor when he was growing up in Texas, but the family didn’t find out about the abuse until they relocated to Maine. Fred Tomaselli said his son then became a predator and ‘master liar and manipulator.’

Shoop also said alleged victims — like Davis, Lang and Tomaselli — often wait to report the abuse because they see how other people who make similar allegations are treated by the media.

‘The fear of retaliation or the fear of some kind of negative consequence of reporting is very high,’ he said. ‘Another reason is that they’re just embarrassed to admit what they physically did, even though it’s not their fault and they were totally the victims. In many cases, it’s embarrassing to publicly state the activities they engaged in.’

After allegations of sexual abuse against a prominent official become public, people make an emotional rush to judgment and act in one of two ways, Shoop said.

‘Some people refuse to acknowledge that it’s even possible and adamantly defend the accused and even go as far as to attack the alleged victim, as somehow this person is attempting to damage the righteous person,’ he said. ‘On the other side, there’s people who immediately assume it’s true and know the horrors of child abuse and want these people to be arrested and put in jail without a trial.’

A person with a great deal of power thinks they are untouchable and can do whatever they want because they are above reproach, Shoop said. But prominent officials in sexual abuse cases sometimes do get away because people fail to believe the person could be capable of such an act, he said.

Diane Rosenfeld, a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School who has served as commissioner on the Governor’s Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence in Massachusetts, said in an email the scandal in Syracuse shouldn’t detract attention from the root of the problem, which is the failure to intervene in sexual abuse is a primary factor in its longevity.

Rosenfeld said universities need to offer secure reporting systems to eliminate sexual abuse on campus. And because sports teams are sites of an unequal level of sexual abuse claims, universities should start there, she said.

‘A message to schools: Don’t place the value of your sports teams over the value of your students,’ Rosenfeld said. ‘Schools are responsible for their coaches’ behavior; coaches are responsible for their players. Unless school leaders and coaches are held accountable for intervening to prevent and address sexual abuse, the numbers will remain as high as they currently are.’

jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on November 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu