Floyd VanHooser, the fourth man to come forward with allegations [6] of sexual assault against Bernie Fine, has renounced his accusations.
VanHooser is currently incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y. for multiple counts of burglary and petit larceny. Onondaga District Attorney, Williams Fitzpatrick, had originally dismissed New York Daily News reports regarding a fourth accuser, at one point stating, "There is no fourth accuser."
A former girlfriend of VanHooser's, Cindy Clarke, corroborated parts of VanHooser's story, saying that he had revealed Fine's alleged abuse to her shortly before they broke up. Fine had helped VanHooser on a number of occasions throughout his life. At one point VanHooser had listed his legal address as Fine's. Fine also paid him for painting and odd jobs on his home, in addition to helping him get a job working at a Syracuse University fraternity house.
VanHooser told investigators that Fine had abused him on three different occasions - 1998, 2001, and 2011 - during which Fine paid him for oral sex. According to a recent letter [7] sent to The Post-Standard, VanHooser immediately felt guilty thereafter. In the letter, VanHooser wrote, "Bernie has been nothing but good to me over the years. He was the only thing I had close to a father. He never did anything wrong. He is a good man."
The false allegations were put forth, VanHooser stated, because he wanted "revenge" for Fine's refusal [7] to pay for his most recent legal fees. Neither party has yet to take legal action.
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