Inquirer Report Says Bill Conlin Sexually Abused Multiple Children in 1970s

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The Inquirer just ran their report concerning Bill Conlin and the child molestation accusations against him. 

A summary of the investigative report conducted by Nancy Phillips:

– Four adults say that Conlin “fondled them and touched their genitals” in the 1970s, when they were from ages 7 to 12.

– One of the victims is Conlin’s niece, Kelley Blanchet, who is now a prosecutor in Atlantic City. She led the charge in bringing to light the accusations. Blanchet said that both the victims and their families knew about this and didn't go to police.

– There is nothing – legally – that can be done now, because any assaults that occured before 1996 fall under the statute of limitations.

– Blanchet’s account: [Philly.com]

Blanchet's parents were out of town for the day, and Conlin was visiting her family's house in Margate, N.J. When her brother went outside to play football, Blanchet said, Conlin assaulted her.

"I was numb," she said, recalling that he put his hand between her legs and touched her genitals, and penetrated her with his fingers, stopping only when her brother, Ted, walked in. Her brother, now deceased, told her mother, who told her father.

"I was going to kill him, I was so furious," recalled Blanchet's father, Harry Hasson, now 75. He said he called Conlin in the Daily News newsroom and summoned him to Margate.

"He swore to me that he just touched her leg. Then all of a sudden, he started crying," Hasson recalled. "He said, 'I swear to God, I just touched her leg.'"

Hasson said he did not learn the full extent of the assault until about two years ago, when his daughter spoke to him about it in a therapy session.

 

Uhh

– Another female relative told Blanchet that Conlin had assaulted her when she was a child. He later wrote her a 10-page apology. That relative said Conlin also abused her brother and three girls who were “friends of his children when they were growing up.” 

– Kevin Healey, a friend of Conlin’s son, Billy: [Philly.com]

Healey said he awakened in the middle of the night to find Conlin fondling his genitals and leaning toward his body with his mouth.

"I ran out of there like a bat out of hell," said Healey, now 48 and a construction worker and painter who lives in Williamstown. "I left my sneakers, my socks and my shirt," and ran home.

 

– That victim’s mother, Barbara Healey, continued to allow her daughter over the Conlin household because “I thought he was just interested in boys.”

The daughter and her friend, both around 10 at the time, were molested, too.

– The friend’s account: [Philly.com

The memory, the woman said, is frozen in her mind. It was a summer day, and she recalled that she was wearing a yellow shirt and light blue shorts when Conlin put his arms around her, and then reached into her pants and put his fingers inside her.

"He just started fondling me and said, 'Does it feel good?' " she said. "He said, 'This is our secret.' "

It was not the first time Conlin had molested her, said the woman. But, following his warning about keeping it secret, she had told no one. 

 

– There was another girl, as well. 

That’s the slimy part. Conlin was confronted by the fathers of some of the victims and the abuses seemingly stopped. None of the victims ever went to police.

Must-read full story here.

Mike Missanelli spoke with Conlin's lawyer.

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32 Responses

  1. So much unreported child sex abuse occurs within families, if the perps were brought to justice there wouldn’t be enough jail space on planet earth to accomodate them.

  2. Damn! This is not just stunning, but revolting. And to think that just a few days ago, he wrote a piece about whether or not Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun should be stripped of his 2011 NL MVP after he popped positive for PED’s, should the facts in this sordid story be proven true, I’m sure columnists and talking heads will wonder if Conlin should be stripped his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Man! What a mess!

  3. Hall of Fame to Hall of Shame
    read the piece, looks pretty thorough – lot’s of people on the record

  4. (yelling at monitor)——> HOW THE FUCK DOES SOMEONE PENETRATE YOUR PRE-PUBESCENT CHILD WITH THEIR FINGER AND YOU DON’T CALL THE POLICE?

  5. @mikebiff – I have no idea. That shit is disgraceful.
    The police would be called because there would be a dead body.

  6. I always enjoyed Bill Conlin’s cup of coffee that spilled all over the table on The Sports Reporters.

  7. He will be charged once some of his more recent victims come forward. This did not stop in the 70’s.

  8. How does a parent let their daughter go over to his house after the son comes running home in the middle of the night cause that fat prick grabbed the poor boys pecker?
    I’m sorry, some parents are F’d up

  9. Jesus Christ. This hits closer to home than fuckin Sandusky, I’ve been reading a child molester’s columns and watching his appearances on DNL for years? I need to puke. And he definitely should kill himself if any of this is true, which it certainly seems to be judging from the number of reports.

  10. We need to change the PA laws for the statute of limitations for crimes against children. Contact your state representative now.

  11. @Matt – I agree totally. With Sandusky he was a defensive coordinator on a college team 4 hours away from Philadelphia, who I never even heard speak before. Just a guy on the sideline during PSU games.
    Conlin was someone I’ve been reading 2+ times a week since I was old enough to read the sports section of a newspaper, along with watching him on ESPN Sports Reporters and Daily News Live fairly regularly. While obviously you can never really know someone from their public image, you felt more closeness there. I imagined he had a huge ego and seemed like he’d be cranky asshole in real life, but you never assumed anything like this.

  12. I cannot believe that there was ever a statute of limitations for sexual crimes. What a joke that is. Hopefully this can be changed for crimes pre-1985.

  13. I hope there is a hell or some sort of torturous afterlife so disgraceful mutants like Bill Conlan can be violated over and over again for all of eternity …. Burn you obese slob!!!!

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