Report: Bill Conlin Resigns Ahead of Child Molestation Allegations

According to a report by Nancy Phillips of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bill Conlin, the longtime sportswriter for the Philadelphia Daily News, has resigned from the paper amid allegations that he molested children. 

The report cites three women and one man who said that Conlin touched them in inappropriate ways when they were kids. 

"

Three women and a man say they were molested as children by Bill Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and Philadelphia Daily News columnist.

In vivid accounts, the four say Conlin groped and fondled them, and touched their genitals, in assaults in the 1970s, when they were from ages 7 to 12.

"

Speaking through his attorney, George Bochetto, Conlin did not say anything about the allegations in the report. 

"

"Mr. Conlin is obviously floored by these accusations, which supposedly happened 40 years ago," Bochetto said. "He has engaged me to do everything possible to bring the facts forward to vindicate his name."

"

Conlin is one of the most decorated sportswriters in the country. He is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) and won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award—the highest honor that a baseball writer can get—in 2011. 

He is also someone that likes to stir the pot, for better or worse, with what he says and writes. Earlier this year, he used one of his columns to praise Ryan Howard for batting cleanup in the Phillies lineup. 

That has nothing to do with the allegations reportedly being brought against him, but it does give you a sense of the kind of writer he is. 

These allegations come on the heels of the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse, and like the Syracuse case, there is no hope for a trial because the statute of limitations has passed. 

The report also says that "in several cases, parents corroborated the accounts, and...Conlin's brother-in-law described how the writer (Conlin) broke down in tears and insisted he had only touched the girl's leg."

With all the allegations that we have seen come out over the last two months, I shudder to think what horrors might come next. 

Follow @adamwells1985