Bill Conlin accused of sexually abusing four children

Jerry Sandusky.

Bernie Fine.

And now Bill Conlin.

Conlin on Tuesday became the third sports figure this year to be accused of sexually abusing children, joining Sandusky, Joe Paterno's former assistant at Penn State, and Fine, Jim Boehim's former assistant at Syracuse.

Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, retired on Tuesday after being accused of sexually abusing four children, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The incidents allegedly occurred in the 1970s. According the report, the accusers -- three women and one man -- assert that Conlin groped and fondled them and touched their genitals while they were between the ages of 7 and 12.

The 77-year-old Conlin, who joined the Daily News in 1965, refused to comment, through his attorney.

Mr. Conlin is obviously floored by these accusations, which supposedly happened 40 years ago, his lawyer George Bochetto told the Inquirer. "He has engaged me to do everything possible to bring the facts forward to vindicate his name.

One of the four alleged victims is Conlins niece, Kelley Blanchet. Now a 47-year-old prosecutor in Atlantic City, Blanchet said their reasons for revealing the assaults were twofold. First, the Penn State scandal and its alleged coverup naturally reminded them of their assaults and the fact that it had been kept secret.

"This is a tragedy," Blanchet told the newspaper. "People have kept his secret. It's not just the victims, it's the victims' families. There were so many people who knew about this and did nothing."

Second, the group hopes to highlight the deficiency with the statute of limitations on sex crimes. Because the assaults occurred before 1996, their cases are unable to be prosecuted. Their parents did not report the cases to authorities despite backing up the accounts. Whats more, Conlins brother-in-law actually said that Conlin cried when confronted and claimed to have only touched the girls leg.

Barbara Healey's son and daughter, Kevin and Karen, told her that Conlin molested them but did not report it.

"I'm really sorry that I didn't do something more at the time," Healey told the Inquirer. "Call the police is what I should have done."

The fourth alleged victim did not wish to be identified. Gloucester County prosecutors recorded video statements from the four last year. According to the Inquirer, Detective Stacie Lick of the Prosecutors office e-mailed one of the victims last month.

"We would love to see justice in this case," Lick wrote. "So many people have been victimized by this man, but our hands are tied by the law, which does not let us prosecute."

Conlin recently wrote a column on the Penn State scandal and opined that it's not easy for witnesses to child sex abuse to report it.

"Everybody says he will do the right thing, get involved, put his own ass on the line before or after the fact," he wrote. "But the moment itself has a cruel way of suspending our fearless intentions."

Daily News editor Larry Platt said he accepted Conlin's retirement over the phone around 1 p.m. Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference, Platt wouldn't elaborate on the conversation except to say it was "painful."

"I can't even begin to express the shock, sadness, and outrage I feel by what Bill Conlin is alleged to have done," Platt told the Inquirer.

Conlin served as the Phillies beat writer for the Daily News from 1966 to 1987. He then became a columnist and began earning national recognition as a regular on ESPNs The Sports Reporters.

This summer at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Conlin was presented with the 2011 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, named after a publisher of The Sporting News. Conlin is also honored at the Scribes and Mikemen exhibit.

Investigative reporter Nancy Phillips' complete story in the Inquirer can be read here.