Rev. Robert Hoatson plans to protest Syracuse University at Big East Tournament in NYC

Dick Blume/The Post StandardRev. Robert Hoatson, (far left), stands with other protesters Richard Tollner, Marianne Barone-Trent and Dick Regan at Syracuse University in November. Hoatson said he was protesting in support of Bernie Fine accusers Bobby Davis and Mike Lang and has repeatedly called for Boeheim to be fired. Hoatson plans to protest outside the Big East Tournament in New York City on Friday night.

The founder of a support group for sex abuse victims plans to protest Syracuse University outside Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday night during the Big East Tournament.

Rev. Robert Hoatson, founder of Road to Recovery, sent a press release Friday morning saying he and others plan to protest "the ongoing revelations of sexual and drug abuse that continue to unravel at Syracuse University and its athletic programs."

Hoatson, of New Jersey, has been vocal in the ongoing Bernie Fine sex abuse scandal, repeatedly calling for the university to fire head coach Jim Boeheim. Friday's press release also refers to an ongoing NCAA investigation into a recent report that up to 10 former SU basketball players failed drug tests since 2001 but the university continued to allow them to play. The story was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

Hoatson has also been working with the family of Floyd David VanHooser, the Syracuse man who claimed Fine abused him when he was a child into adulthood. VanHooser, who is serving 16 years to life in prison for repeat burglary convictions, has since recanted his claims, which Hoatson says is common for sex abuse victims. Hoatson stands by VanHooser's original allegations against Fine.

During a daylong panel at SU on Feb. 23, Hoatson said he has recently began counseling a victim of another head SU coach. Hoatson said that coach is no longer employed by the university and the abuse happened many years ago. Several audience members at that panel criticized Hoatson for "casting a shadow" on the entire SU athletics program because Hoatson would not name names, of the alleged victim or the coach.

Hoatson is a no longer practicing Catholic priest who has been very vocal in the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the last few decades. He has protested the church throughout the Northeast and founded Road to Recovery to assist clergy sex abuse victims. He has been involved in the Fine scandal since November when he protested on the SU campus, calling for Boeheim to be fired.