The accusers include a niece of Conlin's who is now a prosecutor in New Jersey. Conlin has denied the accusations through his attorney.
The allegations were reported in a lengthy investigative story today by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The story, by Nancy Phillips, included some parents of the alleged victims saying they were made aware of the assaults at the time, but elected not to tell authorities.
The newspaper says no legal action can be taken against Conlin, 77, because of the statute of limitations laws that existed at the time of the alleged assaults.
The niece who is now a prosecutor, Kelley Blanchet, told the Inquirer that: "This is a tragedy. 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 retired Tuesday from the Daily News, just hours before the Inquirer published its story online. He had worked as a columnist and baseball reporter there for more than four decades.
Conlin's attorney, George Bochetto, told the Inquirer that: "Mr. Conlin is obviously floored by these accusations, which supposedly happened 40 years ago . . . He has engaged me to do everything possible to bring the facts forward to vindicate his name."
Blanchet told the Inquirer she was molested at about the age of 7 when Conlin visited her parent's house. She said Conlin touched her genitals and penetrated her with his fingers.
Blanchet said she, two other women and a man were going public with their accusations now because the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State had brought back memories of their ordeals.
On Nov. 11, Conlin wrote a column about the Sandusky case. Conlin essentially scoffed at people who said they would have intervened in the incident where Sandusky has been alleged to have raped a boy in a Penn State locker room.
Wrote Conlin: "Everybody says he will do the right thing, get involved, put his own ass on the line before or after the fact. But the moment itself has a cruel way of suspending our fearless intentions."
Barbara Healey, whose son Kevin and daughter Karen are among Conlin's accusers, told the Inquirer that: "I'm really sorry that I didn't do something more at the time . . . Call the police is what I should have done."
Said Karen Healey, now 44 and the mother of three: "Nobody called the cops . . . Everyone went back to living their lives. It's never talked about. None of the kids are offered therapy. We all go on with our lives."
Earlier this year Conlin was given one of his profession's highest honors, when he was presented with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America at the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also gained national attention as an oft-bombastic commentator on ESPN's The Sports Reporters.
