Philly Sportswriter Quits Amid Abuse Allegations

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." (More Philadelphia stories.)