Zach Tomaselli, the third accuser in the Bernie Fine case, has admitted he falsified emails that he sent to the Syracuse Post-Standard and The Daily Orange.
Tomaselli also plans to ask Syracuse police to end its child molestation investigation of Fine. However, he maintains that Fine did molest him.
“But he did do it,” Tomaselli told the Daily Orange. “I’m not lying.”
Tomaselli said he doctored emails in order to garner more support for his accusations, and so more news outlets would report on them. He also said he did it to “counterattack” comments from Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.
According to the Post Standard, Syracuse police used information from Tomaselli to obtain a search warrant for Fine’s house on November 25.
Tomaselli is expected to be sentenced to prison in February for sexually abusing a teenage boy. He also said he would drop the civil suit he filed against Fine.
He is the second accuser to recant at least part of his story. Last week, Floyd VanHooser said he lied in accusations and that Fine never abused him as a child. VanHooser was the fourth accuser in the Fine case.
Fine was an assistant coach at Syracuse for 36 years before being fired on November 27.
