News

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

By Kyle Scott

Published: Dec 20th, 2011 · 5:02 PM EST

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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.