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Philly Sportswriter Quits Amid Abuse Allegations

Daily News ' Bill Conlin accused of molesting 4 children in '70s

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 21, 2011 1:01 AM CST

(Newser) – Three women and a man have come forward to say longtime Philadelphia Daily News sportswriter Bill Conlin molested them when they were children in the 1970s, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Their parents, who did not contact law enforcement at the time, have corroborated their accounts, but prosecutors say that there is nothing they can do because the alleged sexual assaults fall outside the statute of limitations.

The alleged victims—one of whom is Conlin's niece Kelley Blanchet, a prosecutor in Atlantic City—say they decided to come forward after the Penn State scandal brought back painful memories. "This is a tragedy," Blanchet says. "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." Conlin resigned yesterday after more than 40 years with the Daily News. His lawyer says his client has asked him to do "everything possible to bring the facts forward to vindicate his name."

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Longtime Philadelphia sportswriter Bill Conlin speaks after receiving the JG Taylor Spink Award during a ceremony at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY, this last summer. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

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We would love to see justice in this case. So many people have been victimized by this man, but our hands are tied by the law, which does not let us prosecute. - Detective Stacie Lick of the
Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office

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Philly Sportswriter Quits Amid Abuse Allegations

Daily News ' Bill Conlin accused of molesting 4 children in '70s

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