Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

The divers said two coaches challenged Norris at a 1992 diving competition after being told that one of the divers had been molested by Norris years earlier in Fort Worth.

That diver, Pat Harrington, now 45 and a psychologist in California, is among more than 15 men scheduled to testify against Norris at a pretrial hearing Jan. 31.

Norris, 77, a prominent Fort Worth real estate agent, has repeatedly denied molesting anyone. His lawyer said he would have to investigate the latest allegations.

Accusations against Norris surfaced publicly in 2002, when a Fort Worth family began to pursue a civil lawsuit against him. He has since been charged in Tarrant County with molesting one youth in 1995 and attempting to molest another in 1987.

Plan for trip spurred action

Harrington studied diving with Norris at the Panther Boys Club in Fort Worth and went on to become a member of the U.S. diving team in 1980 and 1984.

He said he stepped forward in 1992 to thwart Norris' plans to take young divers on a postseason trip to Hawaii.

"When I heard what was about to happen, that he was going to go to Hawaii with these young boys, I thought, 'We can't let this happen,' " Harrington told the Star-Telegram.

A friend, Mark Virts, said he alerted Vince Panzano, now coach at Ohio State University, and Randy Ableman, now a University of Miami coach, about the allegations.

Neither Panzano nor Ableman returned repeated telephone calls from the Star-Telegram.

Virts said he witnessed the confrontation between Panzano and Norris and that he later discussed it with Ableman.

Virts said the Hawaii trip never happened and that Norris was ostracized by the national diving community after the 1992 incident.

The Star-Telegram typically does not name victims of sexual abuse, but Harrington agreed to be identified after reading about the criminal allegations against Norris.

Curb on testimony sought

Alan Levy, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney, said Harrington's decision to speak out is a "significant breakthrough" in the criminal case against Norris.

Levy encouraged others who may have been molested by Norris to contact authorities.

Mike Ware, Norris' attorney in the criminal case, is fighting to keep testimony from Harrington and the other men out of Norris' trial.

"As far as we are concerned, this is a brand-new allegation, and it will have to be investigated," Ware said.

The Hallman family of Fort Worth was the first to go public with complaints against Norris. The Hallmans filed civil court documents in 2002, accusing Norris of molesting Will Hallman at Norris' Eagle Mountain Lake home in 1995, when Hallman was 12. Hallman is now 21.

In 2003, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted Norris on charges of indecency/fondling and indecent exposure in the Hallman case.

Second indictment in 2004

A year later, Norris was indicted on charges of attempted sexual assault and attempted indecency in a second case in which the accuser, now 28, said Norris had tried to molest him at the lake house in 1987. More than a dozen other men have since come forward with similar allegations dating to at least 1956, according to a list of prospective witnesses filed in the criminal case by the district attorney's office.

Those cases are too old for charges to be filed. Under state law, charges must be filed within 10 years of the accuser's 18th birthday.

But the men tell similar stories: that as youths they became sexually involved with Norris. In a few instances the men allege that Norris drew them into sexual acts with another man or with other youths. The men said the encounters occurred in Fort Worth, Arkansas, California, Maryland and Michigan, court records show.

State District Judge Wayne Salvant will decide if the men will be allowed to testify at Norris' trial in the Hallman case, set for May.