Syracuse Coach Accuser Now Says He Made It All Up

LEWISTON, Maine (CBSNewYork/AP) — A Maine man says he lied when he accused former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him.

Zachary Tomaselli of Lewiston said Friday that he fabricated the allegations and took pride in his ability to convince people his claims were true. He told The Associated Press he's a "habitual liar and sociopath" who lacks feelings for others.

"It has become a burden of a lie and I am sick of it," Tomaselli said in a email to Syracuse website CNYCentral.com. "Bobby Davis told me what to tell detectives and it pretty much took off from there. The evidence that supports me is just pure luck, not real evidence. I made the ENTIRE thing up. I have never met Bernie in my life."

Bobby Davis, a former ball boy for the Syracuse Orange in the 1980s, and his stepbrother Michael Lang accused Bernie Fine of molesting them throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Even with the recent accusations against Fine, prosecutors say too much time had passed to consider charges related to their allegations. Federal prosecutors examining Tomaselli's claim did not comment and a district attorney said in December that evidence undercut Tomaselli's credibility.

Davis, whose allegations were deemed credible by authorities but not prosecuted because of the statute of limitations, told ESPN's Mark Schwarz on Friday he never coached Tomaselli on what to tell police.

"I never said anything like that at all to the kid," Davis told ESPN. "I just spoke to him a couple minutes. There were like two phone calls between us and they lasted a total of three to four minutes...He kept changing his story with me."

Fine has not been charged and has denied the abuse claims. His attorney declined comment Friday.

Tomaselli begins serving a 39-month prison sentence next week for molesting a 13-year-old boy at a summer camp in Maine.

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