Story by staff writers Emily Kulkus and John O'Brien

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A fourth man has told police that former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused him as a child, beginning 42 years ago.

Floyd VanHooser, who celebrated his 56th birthday Tuesday behind the walls of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, says Fine began sexually abusing him when VanHooser was 14 years old, in 1969.

The Syracuse man, who is serving 16 years to life for repeatedly burglarizing homes in Central New York, told The Post-Standard Wednesday in an hourlong prison interview that the fired SU coach took him in as an orphan and sexually abused him.

VanHooser’s parents both died before he was 13 years old. VanHooser said he lived with Fine on and off for nearly 40 years.

Tipped off by a social worker, Syracuse police interviewed VanHooser last month in prison, VanHooser said.

Fine first forced VanHooser to masturbate him when VanHooser was a young teenager, VanHooser said. That was before SU hired Fine as a coach. Fine was working as a Syracuse city school district basketball coach.

VanHooser said the sexual contact continued over four decades. VanHooser said he told Syracuse police about three incidents – in 1998, 2001 and 2011 – when Fine pressured him to perform oral sex and later gave VanHooser money.

The latest incident occurred this past summer in Fine’s office near Manley Field House, VanHooser said. VanHooser said he told police that he performed oral sex on Fine in exchange for $300.

Syracuse detectives interviewed VanHooser last month after ESPN broke the story that two former SU ball boys, Bobby Davis and Mike Lang, had accused Fine of molesting them when they were children.

A third man, Zach Tomaselli, told police Nov. 23 that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room after inviting the then-13-year-old Tomaselli to attend an SU game there.

Fine, who was fired from his job as associate head basketball coach at SU on Nov. 27 after 36 seasons, has not been charged, and has denied all wrongdoing. His lawyer could not be reached for comment on VanHooser's allegations.

Victim No. 4

The SU sex abuse scandal has been front page news across America for four weeks. But VanHooser’s former girlfriend said she’s known about VanHooser’s allegations for much longer. She told The Post-Standard that VanHooser told her about a decade ago that Fine had sexually abused him when VanHooser was a child.

Still, before VanHooser’s name became public in the Fine case, he was publicly attacked. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick last week referred to a fourth accuser in the Fine case as someone serving a life sentence in prison as a persistent felon, but not did not disclose his name.

Fine’s fourth accuser was not worthy of belief, said Fitzpatrick, whose office has sparred with Syracuse police over the Fine case and is not overseeing the investigation. Fitzpatrick told reporters the fourth accuser had written numerous letters over the years to the DA’s office that “to say it charitably, belie his claims of sexual abuse at the hands of Bernie Fine.”

“There simply is no victim No. 4,” Fitzpatrick said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office — which is overseeing the Fine investigation — referred to an unidentified source in court papers filed Wednesday. Federal prosecutor Steven Clymer referred to an unnamed source who federal agents relied on last month when they asked a judge for a warrant to search Fine’s home, office, locker and bank safe deposit boxes. Clymer wrote that unsealing the search warrant applications could jeopardize that source’s safety.

VanHooser, who wore a forest green sweatsuit during the interview Wednesday in the visiting room at the maximum security prison, agreed to have his name published in The Post-Standard.

Mounting trouble

Fine cannot be prosecuted on charges of sexually abusing VanHooser as a child because of the statute of limitations. But his allegations compound the public relations challenges facing Fine and Syracuse University.

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On Tuesday, Davis and Lang, who are stepbrothers, filed a defamation suit against SU and head basketball coach Jim Boeheim. Boeheim called the two Central New York men liars Nov. 17 when they publicly accused Fine of molesting them. Last week, Tomaselli sued Fine over allegations the former coach molested him.

VanHooser, who is called David by many of his friends, said he does not have regular access to television or reading materials in prison, located about 250 miles from Syracuse. He said he didn’t know any details about the Fine scandal until the last day or two.

He said he didn’t know what police wanted when they questioned him last month at Elmira Correctional Facility, where he was being held before being moved to Dannemora. He said police told him that his former case worker contacted them and told them they should talk to VanHooser about his relationship with Fine.

VanHooser was indicted this year on eight counts of burglary and petit larceny for breaking into four homes. A judge sentenced VanHooser as a persistent felony offender to 16 years to life on July 29.

VanHooser said police did not offer him special treatment or help to shorten his sentence in exchange for his cooperation on the Fine probe.

Tuesday was one more birthday behind bars for VanHooser, who has been arrested dozens of times for felony crimes. His family says he has spent more time in prison than as a free man. VanHooser said he knows that doesn’t help his credibility. But he swears he’s telling the truth.

Revealing a secret

Cindy Clarke, VanHooser’s former girlfriend and the mother of his youngest child, said VanHooser told her in 2001 or 2002 that Fine had sexually abused him.

Clarke said VanHooser was preparing to go to Fine’s house to do some work when he told Clarke he didn’t really want to go. Clarke asked him why and he became agitated, Clarke said. “He said he didn’t want to go because ‘he’s been making me do things,’” Clarke recounted.

She said VanHooser said that Fine had been making him touch his penis since he was 15 years old and he was sick of it happening.

Clarke said she told VanHooser she didn’t want to hear any more. That was the only time the two discussed the allegation. VanHooser and Clarke split up not long after that.

Clarke said she believes VanHooser was about 15 years old when they met, and he was living with Fine at the time. Fine was a constant figure in VanHooser’s life, according to Clarke. For many years, Clarke believed he was a good friend to VanHooser.

Whenever VanHooser got out of prison, he called Fine and Fine got him back on his feet by having VanHooser work at Fine’s house, Clarke said. When VanHooser got out of prison in 2008, Fine got him a job working at an SU fraternity, she said.

Syracuse police recently interviewed attorney David Stanton, who represented VanHooser in 2000 or 2001, Stanton said. Police asked Stanton if they knew if VanHooser had a relationship with Fine and whether or not Fine had gotten involved in that particular case at all, he said. Stanton told police Fine had called his office “once or twice” to try and help VanHooser by saying he was a “good guy” but said he could not do more for him because of his position at SU.

Davis, the former SU ball boy who first told Syracuse police nine years ago that Fine had molested him, gave The Post-Standard in 2002 the names of more than a dozen males whom he believed had spent a lot of time at Fine’s house as children. One of the names was VanHooser.

Proof of friendship

The public record confirms a connection between VanHooser and Fine. In a 1975 newspaper story about a drug case, VanHooser’s address was listed as Fine’s home at the time, according to newspaper archives.

When the state filed a judgment against VanHooser in 1999 for unpaid taxes, it listed his address as 201 Wilson St., Fine’s home. In a pre-sentence report in 2003 in one of VanHooser’s many criminal cases, VanHooser listed Fine and SU coach Jim Boeheim as his “source of support” because he’d done work for them.

In a 2002 letter to prosecutors before sentencing, a social worker handling VanHooser’s case said VanHooser had felt obligated to do work at Fine’s home as a way to repay money Fine had loaned him.

VanHooser’s lawyer in a 2002 court appearance called him a “die-hard drug addict” who repeatedly broke into homes to support his habit. Since 1986, VanHooser has been sentenced to state prison five times. The last was in October.

Clarke said she could never understand why VanHooser would get out of prison and backslide into drug and alcohol abuse so quickly. Clarke said she now believes VanHooser suffered so many years of sexual abuse he didn’t know what else to do.

“It’s too much for him to deal with,” she said. “That’s what he does to relieve the pain.”

Feeling betrayed

Behind the foreboding walls of one of New York state’s largest maximum security prisons, VanHooser said the abuse affected all aspects of his life. “It definitely made me want to escape reality,” VanHooser said.

Since being sent away to prison again this summer, VanHooser said he has repeatedly written letters to Fine asking for money and for help hiring a defense attorney to fight his most recent sentence.

VanHooser also said he wrote to Fine just last week, explaining what he told police. VanHooser said he has not heard back from Fine and doesn’t expect to. Asked how he feels about Fine, VanHooser only had one word: “Betrayed.”

Reporter Michelle Breidenbach contributed to this report. Contact John O'Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187. Contact Emily Kulkus at ekulkus@syracuse.com or 470-2184.