SYRACUSE — A New York State prison inmate was identified Thursday as the fourth man to accuse former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexual abuse.
Floyd VanHooser, 56, told Syracuse police that Fine began molesting him in 1969, when he was aged 14, The Post-Standard reported.
VanHooser, who is serving 16 years at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora for a spate of burglaries in central New York, was interviewed last month in prison following a tip by a social worker.
VanHooser alleges to have had sexual relations with Fine over four decades and claims to have received payment for performing sex acts on him on three occasions, the most recent in 2011, before he was imprisoned over the summer.
William Fitzpatrick, the district attorney for Onondaga County, last week confirmed that a fourth claim was made against Fine by a persistent felon who was serving a life sentence. Fine was fired last month by SU amid the emerging allegations.
Fitzpatrick said the unnamed prisoner’s claims of abuse were discredited, adding, “There simply is no victim No. 4.”
The US Attorney’s Office, which is overseeing the Fine investigation, made reference to an unidentified source in court papers filed Wednesday, The Post-Standard reported.
Fitzpatrick confirmed last week that although the first allegations against Fine by two former Syracuse ball boys — Bobby Davis and Mike Lang — were credible, Fine could no longer be charged with child molestation because the statute of limitations has passed.
Davis and Lang filed a defamation suit against SU and head basketball coach Jim Boeheim on Tuesday. Boheim had accused them of lying when the allegations first became public last month. He later apologized and said he supported the investigation against his former longtime assistant.
A third accuser, Zach Tomaselli, also claims to have been abused by Fine at the age of 13. He announced his intention to sue Fine last week.
Fine has denied the allegations.