Just days after recanting his allegations of abuse against former Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine, Zach Tomaselli now claims that he was lying when he claimed that he'd been lying.
On Wednesday, Tomaselli reported to prison in Maine -- after pleading guilty to molesting a boy -- and also issued a statement that reaffirmed his accusations.
"Yes, my credibility with the media is shot but I am not going to give up now," Tomaselli said in a statement, per ESPN. "Bernie molested me. PERIOD."
The emphatic tone contradicts Tomaselli's recent discussions with Matt Mulcahy of CNYCentral. Not only had Tomaselli told CNYCentral that he had fabricated his claims of abuse by Fine but he even indicated that he'd been helped to produce his story by Bobby Davis, another of the alleged victims.
"It has become a burden of a lie and I am sick of it," Tomaselli previously told CNYCentral. "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."
Shortly after speaking with CNYCentral, Tomaselli also spoke with The Associated Press. Again, he claimed that he had been lying, describing himself as a "habitual liar and sociopath" and revealing that he took pride in his ability to deceive people throughout this ongoing scandal.
Tomaselli was the third person to come forward alleging sexual abuse by the former Syracuse men's basketball coach. In November 2011, ESPN reported the allegations of Davis and Mike Lang, and Tomaselli came forward 10 days later, claiming that Fine had molested him at a hotel in Pittsburgh in 2002.
Although Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick would publicly vouch for the credibility of Davis and Lang in December 2011, he announced that he was turning over exculpatory evidence to federal investigators regarding Tomaselli's case. In January 2012, Tomaselli admitted to the Syracuse Post-Standard that he had doctored emails to help publicize his claims. Despite conceding that he'd altered correspondance with law enforcement, Tomaselli still maintained that he had been molested by Fine at that point.
Despite the contradictory accounts and his own criminal case, Tomaselli remained a key player in the abuse scandal as his claims of abuse were the only ones that were still open to prosecution. Both Davis and Lang allege abuse too far in the past to be prosecuted.