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Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of sexual assault.

A man who grew up in the city of Syracuse is suing former Syracuse University coach Bernie Fine, alleging that Fine sexually assaulted him while serving as his foster parent. 

The lawsuit, filed in Onondaga County Supreme Court on Jan. 12, also names the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County as defendants, accusing them of negligent behavior that allowed Fine to repeatedly abuse the plaintiff. The plaintiff is suing for an unspecified amount of compensation. 

Fine, who served as associate head coach for men’s basketball at SU, was fired in 2011 following allegations that he sexually assaulted two former ball boys and another youth. Fine, who denied the allegations, had been with the university for at least 34 years. 

Before his time at SU, Fine worked at Lincoln Junior High School in Syracuse and served as a foster parent for the county. 

The plaintiff in the case, Floyd Van Hooser, met Fine at the junior high school in 1970. Fine, then a gym teacher who supervised detention, eventually invited Van Hooser to his apartment, where he watched Van Hooser change after offering him new clothes and a shower, the lawsuit alleges. 

After conversations with Fine, county employees placed Van Hooser in Fine’s care. Van Hooser was briefly removed from Fine’s home but was returned to his care after spending time at a detention center in Syracuse. Fine, who was 25 years old at the time, was living in a single bedroom apartment. The plaintiff, who was then 15 years old, shared a bed with Fine, the lawsuit alleges. 

For a period of two years, Fine sexually assaulted Van Hooser, according to the lawsuit. Fine regularly asked the plaintiff for massages and to be masturbated before masturbating the plaintiff, the lawsuit alleges. Fine threatened to hurt the plaintiff if he told anyone about the abuse, sometimes offering Van Hooser money to stay quiet, the lawsuit alleges. 

On one occasion, Fine lunged across the room and choked Van Hooser until a friend who was present intervened, according to the lawsuit. 

The plaintiff initially accused Fine of abuse shortly after others came forward with allegations against Fine. He later recanted his story but now says he did so out of fear and maintains that the allegations are true, the lawsuit reads.

Van Hooser does not recall any person or entity affiliated with the county or city, including those associated with family services and juvenile probation, performing a welfare check or other type of supervision of Fine’s home while the plaintiff was present.

Greg Loh, a city spokesperson, said in an email that the city believes the lawsuit wrongly asserts involvement by the city of Syracuse. 

“To our knowledge, the city of Syracuse did not at the time of the allegations and does not today have a role in the foster care or probation systems,” Loh said. 

The county did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

As a result of the sexual abuse, the plaintiff struggled as an adult and was in and out of jail multiple times, the lawsuit alleges. Fine would provide the plaintiff with odd jobs or other manual labor when he wasn’t incarcerated. 

“Whenever he was out of jail, he went back to the only support system he knew — Bernie Fine,” the lawsuit reads. 

The plaintiff is now incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility, serving a sentence of 16 years to life for repeated burglaries in the Syracuse area. 

The county and the city failed to adequately monitor Fine, creating a risk that the plaintiff would be sexually assaulted, according to the lawsuit. The county and the city of Syracuse engaged in “reckless, extreme and outrageous conduct by providing Bernie Fine with access to children,” which left Van Hooser with severe emotional and psychological damage, the lawsuit alleges. 

The lawsuit was filed under New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims in the state from age 23 to 55. The law also suspended the statute of limitations for one year, allowing any victim of childhood sexual abuse to bring a claim against the individuals and institutions responsible for their abuse. The window for filing claims has been extended until Aug. 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published on January 27, 2021 at 9:28 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3