SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Syracuse police say they will change the way they handle sexual abuse allegations after it took nine years to start a formal investigation from the time the first accusations were raised against a former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach.
Police Chief Frank Fowler, in a prepared statement, says he can’t change what happened in 2002 when Bobby Davis accused Bernie Fine of sexually abusing him. The statement doesn’t identify Davis by name. Fine has denied the allegations.
When Davis first accused Fine in 2002, Syracuse Det. Doug Fox fielded the call. Because Davis said the abuse stopped 12 years earlier, Fox told him the statute of limitations had passed, meaning an arrest was not possible. Fox made no report.
Moving forward, Fowler says police will formally document all reports of sexual abuse.
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