THE VERDICT IS IN!! Jerry Sandusky has been found guilty on 45 of the 48 counts/ Sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison/ Sandusky gives interview from prison

Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky's wife, Dottie, told CNN that she is angry about accusations of child sexual abuse occurring in her home, calling them "absolutely untrue."
"No child who ever visited our home was ever forced to stay in our basement and fed there," she said. "We would never do anything to hurt them."
Her husband faces more than 50 charges surrounding a child sex abuse scandal that allegedly spanned more than 15 years.
"We don't know why these young men have made these false accusations, but we want everyone to know they are untrue," she added.
An alleged victim testified that he made overnight visits to Sandusky's home as a boy and stayed in a basement bedroom. While there, he described a pattern of sexual assaults over a period of several years, according to the grand jury report.
"The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him," the report states.
Responding to the allegations, Dottie Sandusky said she was "shocked and dismayed" by the alleged victim's testimony, calling his accusations false.
"I continue to believe in Jerry's innocence and all the good things he has done," she added.
The former defensive coordinator posted $250,000 bail and left jail on Thursday, one day after he was arrested on 12 new counts of abuse involving two new alleged victims, raising the total number of victims to 10.
Sandusky was then driven in a three-vehicle motorcade from the jail to his State College, Pennsylvania, home.
Authorities say he is currently under house arrest and must wear an electronic monitoring device. He'll also be restricted from contacting the alleged victims, possible witnesses, and must be supervised during any interactions with minors.
"As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of 'grooming' victims," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly. "Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults."
A grand jury report made public last month detailed 40 charges of rape and molestation against the former coach in a child sex abuse scandal that, at the time, involved eight alleged victims.
The lawyer for a 29-year-old man who is suing the school, Sandusky and Second Mile criticized Dottie Sandusky's statement.
"It really is a sad, clear demonstration of how sick she is because of how sick he is," said Jeff Anderson, who represents an accuser identified as "John Doe A." The Sanduskys both "in their own way deny what we all know to be and what has been revealed daily."
Anderson's client was not cited in the initial grand jury report. The plaintiff, who Anderson said was 10 years old when he first met Sandusky, alleged the former coach sexually abused him dozens of times over several years during the 1990s, the lawyer said.
"The idea that 11 men (10 from grand jury reports plus 'John Doe A') who have nothing to do with each other have fabricated this many stories of abuse is beyond rational," said Anderson's co-counsel, Marci Hamilton. "Victims rarely make up being sexually assaulted and abused."
"John Doe A" is cooperating with authorities, his lawyers said.
Sandusky, who maintains his innocence, will face a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, where his alleged victims are set to testify. It is expected to be the first time the former coach will face them in court.
The new accusers -- identified by authorities as Victim 9 and Victim 10 -- are believed to have encountered Sandusky at The Second Mile charity, a nonprofit organization he founded for underprivileged children.
Victim 9 was between 11 and 12 years old when he first met the former coach in 2004. Sandusky allegedly gave the boy gifts and money, and took him to university football games, according to the grand jury report.
Sandusky allegedly met Victim 10, then about age 10, in 1997 after a counselor recommended the boy attend the charity "because of difficulties in his home life." That witness said Sandusky performed oral sex on him and indecently touched him in an outdoor pool on campus.
Penn State, meanwhile, said Thursday it has created the Center for the Protection of Children for "the study, research, prevention and treatment of child abuse." A portion of the funding will come from football bowl game revenues.
"We are opting to put our expertise and research power to work confronting the problem of abuse," said Penn State President Rodney Erickson in a statement.
The university recently partnered with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center with a commitment of $1.5 million.

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Take that Penn State jacket off, Jerry!

BJ wrote:Take that Penn State jacket off, Jerry!

I noticed that also.

His wife is in complete denial.

I get so angry at this case. That POS is being treated special, he was ro'ed out of jail the first time and then bail was set so low the second time ($250K), at least he has the GPS this time and the order to stay away from minors but come on! And that sick b**** of a wife defending him, saying all of it's not true? OMG I'd love to slap the b****!

December 12, 2011

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A movement started by two graduate students at Penn State has resulted in $47,000 being raised for two nonprofit organizations fighting child abuse and sexual assault.

Laura March, a graduate student in the College of Arts and Architecture, and Stuart Shapiro, a first-year student in the Penn State Smeal College of Business MBA Program, started the campaign to "blue out" Beaver Stadium by having all fans wear blue for the Penn State Football game against Nebraska on Nov. 12. Blue is the color of ribbons displayed in support of child abuse awareness.

The two teamed up with State College retailer McLanahan's to sell T-shirts in support of the effort, with all proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania, an organization dedicated to awareness and prevention of child abuse. McLanahan's sold about 8,000 shirts in the week leading up to the Nebraska game, and on Dec. 7 presented a check to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania for $25,000.

March and Shapiro also organized the canning effort inside Beaver Stadium during the Nebraska game, which resulted in about $22,000 being raised for Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, and organization fighting sexual violence and supporting the needs and rights of victims.

In addition to March and Shapiro's fundraising, Penn State alumni and friends have raised more than $500,000 to support the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), and the University has pledged $1.5 million in Big Ten bowl revenues to a newly forged partnership with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. The remainder of this year's bowl revenues, estimated to be in the area of $500,000 to $800,000, will be used to launch the Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children, dedicated to the study, research, prevention and treatment of child abuse.

The two students came up with the idea for the blue out campaign on Nov. 6, after reading about child sex abuse charges filed against retired Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. They were seeking ways to comfort themselves in the aftermath of the scandal that has affected the entire Penn State community when March discovered that blue is the color of the awareness ribbons supporting child abuse causes.

"I had recently taken a class about using art to make a difference, and this seemed like an appropriate way to bring the University community together in the aftermath of this tragedy while showing our collective support for all victims and survivors of child abuse," March said.

With only five days before the Nebraska game, she and Shapiro worked quickly to get the word out. They started a marketing communications campaign, first on Facebook and then through traditional media. When they approached McLanahan's about selling the T-shirts for charity, March literally had only minutes to create its design to get the shirts on the store's shelves before the game.

In the days leading up to the game, the Facebook event page for the blue out quickly became a virtual village square, with visitors expressing their opinions and feelings about all aspects of the event.

"We made a conscious decision before we started the Facebook page that we were not going to censor any of the comments," Shapiro said. "At first we tried to respond to every comment, both negative and positive, but that soon became impossible as the responses grew. But then the community took over the page, responding to each other, and it became this great virtual meeting place where open discourse flourished."

In an organization as large as Penn State, March and Shapiro believe this campaign is proof that everyone can make a difference.

"This was a true collaboration of the arts and business, coming together and doing something positive in the aftermath of tragedy," said Shapiro.

The blue out T-shirts will be available through December at McLanahan's and online at pennstateroom.com. They are $9.99 each with all proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.

For more information on Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania, visit preventchildabusepa.org.


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Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky abruptly waived his right to a preliminary hearing at which eight young men accusing him of child sex abuse when they were boys were set to testify against him.

Shortly after arriving at a packed Centre County courthouse at 8 a.m., Sandusky and his attorney, Joe Amendola, joined two prosecutors and a court reporter in the judge's chambers. A second attorney, Karl Rominger, arrived at court with Sandusky and Amendola and went with them into chambers.

Amendola had previously said they would not waive the hearing.

Sandusky paused outside the courthouse to say, "We fully intend to put together the best possible defense that we can do, to stay the course, to fight for four quarters... We want the opportunity to present our side."

As Sandusky left, he ignored a reporter's shouted question, "Sandusky, do you still maintain your innocence?" Amendola answered for him, replying, "Yes."

The lawyer later ruled out any chance of a plea deal.

"This is a fight to the death, the fight of Jerry Sandusky's life," Amendola said.

The former Penn State assistant football coach is charged with molesting 10 boys over a 15 year period.

Marc Costanzo, a spokesman for the prosecution, said they were ready but were pleased by the waiver.

"The waiver means that the victims in this case, although they were ready, will not have to testify and will not be cross examined at this time," he said.

Since the alleged victims will still testify at the trial, it "avoids having to testify a second time."

Costanzo said the waiver means "all the charges advance to the trial stage." He said Sandusky will be arraigned on Jan. 11.

The prosecutor said there had been no discussion of a plea bargain.

Sandusky, the once revered assistant football coach, is free from jail on $250,000 bail while the case goes through the court system. He must still wear a monitor.

Michael Boni, a lawyer for a man identified in the grand jury report as Victim 1 said he had dinner Monday night with the client and his mother.

"I knew how stressful this day would be for him. I can imagine this is terrific for my client knowing that they don't have to relive the horror up on the witness stand," Boni said.

"I think he would like justice served in the way least stressful and that means not having to testify," the lawyer said.

Boni also said, "I hope this means that a plea deal is down the road."

The showdown would have marked the first time that he and his alleged victims confronted each other over the charges that have rippled through the highest levels of the university.

Arrangements had been made for the boys, now young men, to not give their names in court, be driven to the hearing in unmarked vehicles, and enter through a private entrance. But they would have had to face Sandusky in court.

Lawyers for several of the 10 boys who have accused the 67-year-old Sandusky have said their clients were determined to speak up at today's hearing.

"It's very difficult. It's trying, but it's something that needs to be done to serve justice," said Howard Janet, the lawyer for a 24-year-old man identified in the grand jury report as Victim 6.

"It's an opportunity for him to set the record straight in response to charges by Sandusky and his lawyer that he hasn't been telling the truth and these other young men haven't been telling the truth," Janet told ABC News.

Sandusky's legal team has challenged some of the accounts of the coach's accusers. Last month, Sandusky's lawyer Joe Amendola said that Victim 1 was retaliating against a tough mentor and had exaggerated his story after getting attention from prosecutors.

Amendola also said that Victim 2, who Sandusky is accused of having raped in a Penn State shower, claimed he was never molested. Victim 2 is expected to take the stand today.

The account by key witness Mike McQueary has also been challenged. McQueary was a graduate assistant in 2002 when he witnessed Sandusky allegedly raping a boy in the locker room showers, according to the grand jury report. The boy was bracing himself with his hands against the shower walls, according to the report.

McQueary, who is currently on a leave from his coaching position, left the area and told his father what he allegedly saw, and went on to tell head football coach Joe Paterno the next day, the grand jury report said.

His account, however, has been challenged by a family friend he says he was present when McQueary spoke to his father and claims McQueary said he only heard what he thought were sounds of sex and never mentioned other details.

Paterno, who was dismissed from his coaching position earlier this year, has said he does not remember being told of sexual misconduct.

If the accusers stayed true to what was in the grand jury report, they would have claimed that Sandusky often showered with them, put his hand on their legs during car rides, and showered them with presents, attention and trips to football games. His advances allegedly ranged from soapy bear hugs in the shower to rape in his basement during sleepovers.

Sandusky has admitted showering with boys, but denies any sexual contact with them.

The purpose of today's hearing was to determine whether there is enough evidence for a judge to order a trial.

Some of Sandusky's six adopted children and his wife, Dottie, are expected to be in the courtroom today to support him.



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Jerry Sandusky just executed a legal maneuver that will keep 8 of his accusers from telling tales of horrific sexual abuse ... but only temporarily.

The former Penn State assistant coach waived his right to a preliminary hearing this AM in his child molestation case. The judge was supposed to hear testimony from Sandusky's accusers and then decide if there was enough evidence to justify a trial. By waiving his right to a prelim, the case will automatically be set for a full trial.

On his way into court, Sandusky said, "We fully intend to put together the best possible defense that we can do, to stay the course, to fight for 4 quarters. We want the opportunity to present our side."

Outside the courthouse, Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola, told the media, "There will be no plea negotiations. This is a fight to the death."

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UGH!!!! I refuse to follow this case that hard. Bottom line, he is a sick, disgusting perv!

I'm half following it because it infuriates me that he's out on bail when no one else would be. It's his damn football reputation (IMO) that he's getting special treatment for.
He is sick. So is his wife. MOO.

Legendary former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, fired in November after 46 years as head coach in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving an assistant, died on Sunday, the family said in a statement.

Paterno, 85, disclosed on November 18 that he had treatable lung cancer. He has been in and out of the hospital since then for treatment with radiation and chemotherapy, and after he fell at home in December and broke his pelvis.

University trustees ousted Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football history, for failing to tell police what had been passed on to him about a sex abuse allegation against assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

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I logged on to post this story. Thanks BJ.

Penn State says it has spent $3.2 million on lawyers, consultants and public relations firms in response to child sex abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach arrested in early November.
The university posted a breakdown of its related costs Monday as it unveiled a new website, part of an effort to provide more information to the public.
Through December, the university had spent $2.5 million on crisis communications and an investigation led by an independent firm. It also reports spending $470,000 on university legal services and $210,000 for the legal defenses of a former vice president, a former president and an athletics director on leave.
Former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky denies sexually abusing boys. The other school officials either haven't been charged or await trial on charges of perjury and failure to report abuse but deny the allegations.


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Sandusky judge denies accusers' bid for pseudonyms
Published June 04, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Alleged victims of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky will not be allowed to avoid disclosure of their names by testifying under pseudonyms, and tweets or other electronic communications by reporters will not be permitted during the trial, the judge ruled Monday.
Judge John Cleland also resolved a dispute over research into potential jurors, a day before jury selection is scheduled to start in Sandusky's trial on charges he sexually abused 10 boys.
Cleland denied a request by Sandusky's lawyer to order the attorney general's office to turn over information it has collected about potential jurors. Cleland said there was not enough evidence to warrant a hearing on the matter, and noted that prosecutors have said they have only done what a diligent defense attorney would do.
"Even if the commonwealth collected the information in this case in the manner the defense asserts and which the commonwealth denies, I do not believe that the information is constitutionally required to be turned over to the defense," Cleland wrote.
The basis for the defense request was an anonymous letter that claims to list the information prosecutors have collected.
"A motion filed by counsel must be supported by allegations of fact backed up with some credible basis to believe the allegations to be true," Cleland wrote. "Otherwise the court and counsel can be engaged in chasing chimeras."
Sandusky, 68, faces 52 charges he abused 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he has repeatedly denied. He remains confined to his home as he awaits trial.
Cleland has not ruled on defense motions to have some or all of the charges thrown out, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not ruled on a motion by Sandusky filed late Friday that requests a delay in the start of trial.
Cleland had said he would allow electronic communication, but not photographs or the recording or broadcasting of any verbatim account of the proceedings while court is in session.
Media groups, including The Associated Press, sought clarification on Friday, in response to which Cleland rescinded permission for any electronic communications from inside the Centre County courtroom.
"It is readily apparent from the allegations in the media's motion ... that the standard I applied in my definition is confusing to reporters, unworkable, and, therefore, likely unenforceable," the judge wrote.
At least 250 reporters have registered to attend the trial.

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Jury selection begins in Jerry Sandusky trial
Published June 05, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Prosecutors and Jerry Sandusky's defense lawyers started the process of picking a jury for his child sexual abuse case Tuesday with a pool of 220 potential jurors.
More than 600 summonses were sent out to residents in Centre County, the home of Penn State University. The process of finding the 12 jurors and four alternates could take days.
Judge John Cleland addressed the prospective jurors in a somber, packed courtroom inside the courthouse while, outside, scores of journalists lined the front lawn with television cameras and computers waiting for word.
The prospective jurors were to be taken in groups of 40 for more questions and, ultimately one-on-one questioning in phase three for those who are not dismissed beforehand.
Sandusky, the 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach is accused of 52 criminal counts for alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years, charges he's repeatedly denied.
Sandusky arrived at the courthouse, about 10 miles from the Penn State campus, Tuesday morning with his lawyer. They didn't comment as they exited their vehicle.
An hour before jury selection was set to begin, a dozen photographers awaited Sandusky's arrival while 10 television satellite trucks lined up outside the courthouse in Bellefonte.
Potential jurors slowly filed into the front door of the courthouse around 8 a.m., some standing in a steady drizzle as they wait to get through security. One man wore a gray Penn State sweat shirt.
The jurors are being chosen from among people who live in the State College area, where Penn State's main campus is located. That was a victory for the defense, which argued against bringing in jurors from elsewhere in the state.
Some of the alleged victims are expected to testify during the trial, the opening of which is likely to begin on Monday morning.
The expected witnesses are expected to include several young men who contend they were abused by Sandusky. Prosecutors have claimed that Sandusky groomed boys he met through a charity he founded for at-risk youth, then attacked them, in some cases in his own home or inside university athletic facilities.
Among the challenges for jury selection are the extraordinarily heavy news coverage of the scandal and the wide reach of The Second Mile, the youth charity Sandusky founded in 1977.

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9 jurors picked for Sandusky child sex abuse case

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Connections to Penn State weren't enough to keep prospective jurors from being chosen to decide Jerry Sandusky's fate on child sexual abuse charges.

The start of jury selection Tuesday showed the strength of Sandusky's and Penn State's links to their rural central Pennsylvania community, but the presiding judge indicated that those connections weren't necessarily enough to keep them from being one of the 12 jurors or four alternates.

Nine jurors were selected Tuesday, including a longtime Penn State football season ticketholder.

In the first questioning of 40 prospective jurors, about half said they or immediate family members worked at Penn State or were university retirees. One woman rented apartments to college students. Four knew Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach. Two knew his wife.

Sandusky's lawyer won the right to have jurors chosen from the local community, and prosecutors had concerns that Centre County might prove to be nearly synonymous with Penn State. Sandusky had helped build the football team's reputation as a defensive powerhouse known as "Linebacker U," his arrest toppled Joe Paterno from the head coaching position just months before his death from cancer, and some of the alleged attacks on children occurred inside university showers.

One of the very first jurors to be seated wasn't just a season ticketholder since the 1970s: She said John McQueary — a possible trial witness and the father of a key witness — once worked with her husband.

When Sandusky's lawyer sought to have her removed for cause, Judge John Cleland signaled he would need more grounds.

"We're in Centre County. We're in rural Pennsylvania," Cleland said, noting that such connections "can't be avoided."

Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola opted not to use one of his eight challenges, and she joined the panel.

Others selected included a 24-year-old man with plans to attend an auto technician school and a mother of two who works in retail.

All the jurors will have to say under oath they can be impartial.

Prospective jurors also learned that Paterno's wife and son were among the potential defense witnesses. Members of Sandusky's family also were on a list shown to the prospective jurors, along with assistant coach Mike McQueary and his father.

Mike McQueary, on leave from the team, has said he saw Sandusky naked in a team shower with a young boy more than a decade ago and reported it to football coach Joe Paterno.

Mike McQueary is also on the prosecution's list, along with young men who have accused Sandusky of abusing them.

Sandusky, 68, faces 52 criminal counts and potential penalties that could result in an effective life prison sentence for alleged abuse involving 10 boys. He has denied the allegations.

Among those who were struck from the pool were a nurse who said people make up stories all the time — prosecutors used a challenge for her — as well as a man who had volunteered for the charity Sandusky founded, The Second Mile. Also struck were a mother of 10 who said she has made up her mind and a Penn State fan and township manager who said news coverage of the case has been destructive to her community.

Cleland told the more than 220 potential jurors he would not sequester them, meaning they can spend nights at home during the trial that is expected to last several weeks.

While about a dozen TV news trucks and more than 50 reporters waited outside the courthouse for updates, Cleland urged the jury pool to avoid news accounts or social media postings.

"No one in the world will know as much about this trial as the people sitting in the jury box," Cleland told them.

Sandusky attended jury selection, and laughed at some of Cleland's humorous remarks to potential jurors. But when Cleland told the pool the nature of the charge, Sandusky put his head down.

More than 600 summonses were sent out to residents in Centre County, the home of Penn State University's main campus.

Cleland addressed the prospective jurors in a somber, packed courtroom. The prospective panelists were to be taken in groups of 40 for more questions and, ultimately to face one-on-one questioning in a third phase, for those who were not dismissed beforehand. The jurors who were selected were allowed to leave for the day.

Early in the process, jurors were asked to indicate through a system in which they held up cards whether they had connections to Penn State.

About a dozen signaled that they worked or had retired from the university; another half-dozen said they had spouses who worked for the school.

Four indicated they knew Sandusky. Two said they knew his wife, Dottie, who was not in court on Tuesday.

Two potential jurors indicated they had previously volunteered with The Second Mile.

Of the first group of 40 to be questioned Tuesday morning, Cleland dismissed five for medical reasons or vacation plans.

Some of the alleged victims are expected to testify during the trial, the opening of which is likely to begin on Monday morning. Cleland said the trial may last three weeks.

Prosecutors have claimed that Sandusky groomed boys he met through The Second Mile, the charity he founded for at-risk youth in 1977, then attacked them, in some cases in his own home or inside university athletic facilities.

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Sandusky allegedly sent 'creepy' love letters to 'victim'

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Jerry Sandusky allegedly wrote "creepy" love letters to one of his victims, and they will be read in testimony once the child sex abuse trial into the former Penn State assistant football coach begins Monday, ABC News reported, citing sources close to the case.

The love letters were allegedly written to "Victim 4," one of eight accusers set to testify against the 68-year-old.

Victim 4 is set to be the first witness to testify and is also expected to show gifts that Sandusky allegedly gave him, including a set of golf clubs.

The letters are allegedly handwritten by Sandusky and one of them entails a story written in the third person.

Victim 4, now 28, met the coach through Sandusky's charity, the Second Mile.

Ben Andreozzi, the attorney for Victim 4, would not talk about the letters, but did say, "They have evidence to support his allegations, and there's other evidence that has not been released to the public yet that I think will really resonate with the jury."

The report came as nine jurors were selected Tuesday during the first day of jury selection at Centre County Courthouse.

Sandusky faces 52 counts for allegedly molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. The former defensive coordinator pleaded not guilty and has remained under house arrest since being charged in November.

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Jury selected in Sandusky child sex abuse case has ties to Penn State

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – A jury dominated by people with Penn State loyalties was selected Wednesday to decide Jerry Sandusky's fate in the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the university and led to football coach Joe Paterno's downfall.
The seven women and five men who will hear opening statements on Monday include an engineering administrative assistant at Penn State, a dance teacher in the continuing education program and a professor who has been on the faculty for 24 years.
Also: a Penn State senior, a retired soil sciences professor with 37 years at the university, a man with bachelor's and master's degrees from the school and a woman who has been a season ticketholder since the 1970s.
Sandusky, a 68-year-old former assistant football coach, is charged with sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year span.
Picking the jury took less than two days, moving along more swiftly than some had expected, given that the rural area is rich with Penn State employees, alumni and fans, many of whom have strong opinions about the case. Bellefonte is 12 miles from Penn State's main campus in State College.
The judge, however, said Penn State connections would not automatically disqualify potential jurors as long as they could pledge to be impartial.
In all, at least seven of the 12 jurors and two of the four alternates have ties to Penn State. The other jurors are a 24-year-old man with plans to attend auto technician school, a mother of two who works in retail, a retired school bus driver, an engineer and a property management firm employee.
Some legal experts said jurors with Penn State connections might be inclined to come down hard on Sandusky, blaming him for Paterno's firing and the damage to the school's reputation. Or they might take their frustrations out on prosecutors for bringing the case in the first place.
St. Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said the Penn State factor could cut both ways.
"In one sense, you worry about, this guy was for many years of his life a hero of that community, an idol," Antkowiak said, referring to Sandusky's role as founder of an acclaimed charity for youngsters.
"On the other hand, there's also the consideration that there are people who believe this guy betrayed so much of what gave this institution and this area so much of the character and innocence that we love, that he has besmirched it in such a profound way."
On the list of potential witnesses, along with the young men who have accused Sandusky, are Paterno's widow and son and assistant coach Mike McQueary, who said he saw Sandusky naked in a team shower with a boy more than a decade ago and reported it to Paterno.
Paterno was fired in November for not acting more decisively against Sandusky. He died of lung cancer two months later at 85.
On Wednesday, defense attorney Joseph Amendola asked again for a delay in the trial, alleging that the judge's gag order was violated by an ABC report that said the accuser identified in court papers as Victim 4 would be the first witness. Judge John Cleland denied the request.
Amendola arrived with Sandusky at the courthouse in the morning and told reporters he was confident the nine jurors picked so far would give them a "fair shake." During a midday break in jury selection, lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan said: "So far, so good."
In court, Sandusky quietly leafed through a binder with plastic-covered pages. During a break, he turned to two media representatives and asked with a chuckle, "What did you guys do to deserve me?" and "How did you guys get stuck with this?"
Several prospective jurors showed up at the courthouse in clothing with Penn State logos. And the web of Penn State connections was evident when a group of 40 potential jurors was questioned Wednesday. Ten indicated they worked at the university. Nineteen indicated they or a close family member had volunteered or contributed financially to Penn State.
Fifteen said they knew someone on the prosecution's witness list, while 20 knew someone on Sandusky's defense list.
Juror No. 12 has been a professor at Penn State for more than two decades and worked on a committee with university President Graham Spanier, who was ousted in the wake of the scandal.
Jules Epstein, a criminal defense attorney and law professor at Widener University School of Law in Delaware, said the defense might try to use the Penn State-heavy jury to its advantage by calling people with strong ties to the university to vouch for Sandusky's character.
"If some of those witnesses are also respected in the Penn State community, you are subtly, softly making that link," he said.
Epstein said the defense would be wise to avoid trying to cast the trial as a vendetta against Penn State and Paterno. Jurors will probably see through that strategy, he said.
"I can see somebody saying, 'This case isn't about Penn State. This is about a bunch of youngsters whose lives were ruined,'" Epstein said.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Rubinkam and Joe Mandak contributed to this report.

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11 pages.....too much to bring over here.

Following is a description of the main players in the Jerry Sandusky trial, what they knew, what they did and what happened to them.

Gerard "Jerry" Sandusky
The Alleged Victims
Mike McQueary
Joe Paterno
Tim Curley
Gary Schultz
Graham Spanier
The Second Mile
Joseph Amendola
Pennsylvania Prosecutors

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Jerry Sandusky’s defense team filed a motion Monday that asked permission for a psychologist to testify about histrionic personality disorder, a psychiatric disorder characterized by dramatic, emotional and attention-seeking behavior.
The former Penn State assistant football coach is charged with 52 criminal counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a 15-year period. The motion was intended to discount the prosecution’s argument that letters from Sandusky to the boys were not “grooming behavior” to lure them into an inappropriate sexual relationship.
The first witness in the trial, known as Victim No. 4, said the former coach sexually abused him and sent him “creepy love letters.” The defense said a psychologist will explain that the “words, tones, requests and statements” made in the letter are consistent with a person who suffers from a histrionic personality disorder, according to the motion.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, defines people with the personality disorder as having an excessive need for approval and exhibit inappropriate seductive behavior. The condition usually begins in early adulthood, and people with the condition are usually dramatic, energetic and flirtatious. “Histrionic” is a term meaning “dramatic or theatrical.”
According to Cleveland Clinic, people with the disorder usually have good social skills, but they tend to use those skills to manipulate others to make themselves the center of attention.
Patients must not only undergo a full psychiatric evaluation to be diagnosed with the condition, but psychiatrists must also have an understanding of how they operated over an extended period of time in multiple areas of their lives, including work, love, relaxation and play, said Dr. Carol Bernstein, associate professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center, who is not involved with the Sandusky trial.
People with the disorder must exhibit at least five characteristics of the disorder, some of which include: being uncomfortable when they are not the center of attention, rapid changes in emotions, being overly concerned with physical appearance, constantly seeking reassurance and approval and exhibiting inappropriate seductive or flirtatious behavior.
The condition can be difficult to diagnose because parts of anyone’s character and style can make one behave in a certain way in certain situations, said Bernstein. But even if people are diagnosed with a disorder, it does not justify inappropriate behavior and does not make them insane.
“These disorders can indeed be real, and sometimes they can be pathological, but you have to look at the context from where they occur,” said Bernstein.
“If someone exhibits sexually inappropriate behavior and that’s all they have out of the several characteristics, that’s not a personality disorder,” said Bernstein. “Any sexual predator exhibits sexually inappropriate behavior.”
Even with a diagnosis though, Elyn Saks, associate dean and professor of law, psychology, and psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at University of Southern California Gould Law School, said the legal argument would be a “stretch.”
“Typically, for an insanity argument, a person must be out of touch with reality at the time of the crime,” said Saks. “It is very strict. While personality disorders can have transient psychotic symptoms, this would be a stretch as a viable argument.”

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The first of what is expected to be a parade of alleged victims took the stand on Monday to describe abuse by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State University.

Known as Victim No. 4, the witness told how he met Sandusky through a charity for at-risk boys and that Sandusky began to mentor him and bring him gifts. Eventually their contacts increased into "soap battles” in the shower, including unsought touching and oral sex, the witness testified.

Sandusky, 68, is charged with 52 criminal counts that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years. In opening statements Monday, the prosecution alleged that Sandusky was a “predatory pedophile.” The defense insisted that Sandusky may have given gifts but did nothing criminal.

The witness, the first of eight alleged victims expected to testify at the trial, is now 28 years old. According to reports from the courtroom, he said that he began showering with Sandusky in 1997. He said he met Sandusky through the charity, The Second Mile, founded by the coach.

When asked if he had ever told an adult, the witness said he couldn’t for fear of losing the gifts. “No, no way. I was too scared to. … The other things were nice. I didn't want to lose that,” he said, according to media reports.

Among the gifts the witness said he received were golf clubs, snowboards, drum sets and various Penn State football memorabilia, including a watch and football jersey.

The witness said Sandusky also took him to postseason games, including one in Texas; there, the witness said, he resisted an effort to have oral sex in a hotel bathroom.

The witness also described what he said were “creepy love letters,” the former coach sent him. One such note was on Penn State stationery and signed “Jerry.”

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A boy who claims he was sexually abused for years by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky told a jury today that when he tried to pull away from Sandusky the ex-coach had him sign a contract offering him money in return for seeing him at least once a week.

The witness, who is now 28 and identified only as Victim 4 by ABC News, collected some cash from Sandusky, but soon broke off contact.

The witness said the offer in 1999 was called the "Program" and was ostensibly made to ensure that the boy would continue with his studies and athletics. It promised $1,000 for every year of education the boy pursued after high school, plus additional money for seeing Sandusky, going to hockey practice, and working out 3 times a week, he testified.

But Victim 4 said the proposed deal came as he tired of years of sexual abuse, as often as three times a week for three years. When asked by Sandusky's lawyer Joseph Amendola whether the offer was made in good faith, the witness rejected that suggestion.

"No, no. You're not understanding. This is when I'm trying to get away from him. I signed it to shut him up. And that's not the only thing it's offering me money for... It's not that simple, not in my mind, sorry," he said.

Victim 4 also said that Sandusky drove him to buy marijuana and cigarettes and watched while the boy smoked pot in Sandusky's car.

The witness said Sandusky's attention began as soap battles in a Penn State locker room when he was 13, but became more aggressive and insistent the more time they spent together. He told the jury on the first day of the trial that he had to resort to hiding in his bedroom closet to avoid Sandusky trying to prey on him at his home.

"I'd come home from school and look out the window and he' d be there and I'd grab the phone and hide in the closet," the man, who was 13 when the alleged abuse began, testified.

The man's testimony was the first of what is expected to be a series of wrenching and sexually graphic witnesses detailing what they claim that Sandusky, now 68, did to them when they were young boys.

Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. The trial is expected to last three weeks.

Victim 4 riveted the courtroom with his stories of how he was allegedly coerced into sex with Sandusky through brute strength, lavish presents and his access to the Penn State football team. Sandusky even suggested that he could some day play for the nationally ranked team, even though he only weighed 90 pounds at the time.

His testimony also described how Sandusky's wife, Dottie, once walked in on them during sex. He was sharing a hotel room with Sandusky and his wife on a trip to an away football game in which Sandusky tried to force him to have oral sex in the bathroom.

"He came in and started to push down on me to motion me to go down there. I resisted but didn't say anything but was hesitant, and he said, 'You don't want to go back to Snow Shoe do you?'" Victim 4 said, referring to the town where he was living at the time. "He was trying to get me to give him oral sex and threatening me if not."

"What happened then is literally 10 seconds later, the bathroom door is not shut completely... and the other door is open, and I heard Dottie say 'Jerry' and he ran out. And she said, 'What are you doing in there?'" Victim 4 testified.

The witness told the court that Sandusky began abusing him after workouts at Penn State by throwing handfuls of soap and "play fighting" in the showers. The horseplay progressed into Sandusky touching the boy and rubbing up against the boy's hands, until both had touched the other's penis.

As the shower incidents became more frequent, the man claimed that Sandusky began maneuvering him to the floor and putting his genitals near the boy's face, and vice versa. He also tried to have oral sex and anal sex with the boy, the man claimed.

In car rides, Sandusky "would put his hand on my leg, basically like I was his girlfriend…. It freaked me out extremely bad. I would brush it off," he testified, but added "it happened every time" they were in a car.

Victim 4 said he never told anyone because he feared losing the benefits of the relationship.

"This is something good that happened to me. I didn't have a dad around, I didn't have a father figure. This is something good. I'm in high school at this point, people are jealous, other kids are jealous, and they want to tease you. They're saying things like you're being molested by Jerry, you're butt buddies. It really is happening but I've got to pretend like it's not happening to everybody else. If I ever said anything, it would have been so much worse. I denied it forever," he testified.

Under cross examination, Victim 4 admitted that he had a lawyer before he went to the grand jury and never spoke in detail of the alleged abuse before the grand jury.

At first, he said, he kept quiet because "I didn't want to lose the good things I had and I kind of looked at Jerry Sandusky as a father figure and he was nice to me other than those instances… I am feeling cool because I am hanging out with players all the time… I don't want to lose somebody actually paying attention to me."

When he was older, Victim 4 was still reluctant to speak of the alleged abuse.

"I had come to terms with it…. I thought I was the only one, but then I find out that there are others… If I had said something back then…. I feel responsible for what happened to those other kids," he testified.

Amendola attempted to convince the jury that the "Program," along with letters from Sandusky that the alleged victim read aloud into testimony, were proof that Sandusky was only trying to help the boy succeed academically and professionally.

"You have so much potential and are beginning to realize it," Sandusky wrote. "Hopefully you can handle that success and build on it. When you came over it gave me the opportunity to see something I often think, that you are becoming a leader, one who leads by example, has higher standards, is something special, and I'm convinced you can be all of that."

Amendola pointed out that Victim 4 once hit Sandusky with a bottle when the man put his hand on the boy's knee, suggesting there was little likelihood of sex if a hand on the knee elicited such a violent response.

"You've got to realize there was a friend with me at this time and I didn't want him seeing that in any shape or form," the man said.

Amendola also asked the witness about financial hardships, noting that he had not paid rent on a former apartment, to point to a possible financial motivation for the victim's testimony. The questions elicited anger from Victim 4, who said that he had never considered bringing a lawsuit against Sandusky and was reluctant to event be a part of the criminal case against the coach.

The man, who is now a father of a young child, said that he never directly told Sandusky to stop because he liked the attention of a father-figure. Amendola, however, pointed out that at one point, the accuser violently hit Sandusky with a bottle when Sandusky put his hand on the boy's knee.

"One time you hit Sandusky with a bottle? And you didn't like it? That was because he had hand on your knee? He was not trying to force you to have oral sex?" Amendola asked.

"Because he KEPT putting hand on me knee, okay? You've got to realize there was a friend with me at this time and I didn't want him seeing that in any shape or form," the man said.

The trial opened with the prosecution displaying photos of eight of Sandusky's 10 alleged victims, and Sandusky's lawyer suggesting that Sandusky may take the stand in his own defense.

Defense attorney Joseph Amendola said today in an opening statement that Sandusky would tell the jury about how his own experiences growing up explained some of his alleged behavior.

"It was routine for people to get in the showers in Jerry's culture. He's going to tell you later, it was routine for individuals to take showers together," Amendola said.

Sandusky's defense team also filed a motion to allow evidence that he has histrionic personality disorder, a condition that would explain some of his behavior as well as letters he wrote to his alleged victims. The disorder, his lawyer claimed in a court document, will show that his actions were not attempts to "groom" young boys for sexual seduction, as the prosecution has claimed.

Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan earlier promised that eight of Sandusky's accusers would take the stand to recall graphic details of the alleged abuse.

"I'm going to ask you to forgive me, because I'm going to ask (the alleged victims) to back years to when they were children, and I'm going to press them for those details," McGettigan said. "I've asked them to forgive me for the graphic answers. But I have to ask and they have to answer to go back in time. "

Amendola, who seemed to admit to the jury that the prosecution had a strong case, saying "the Commonwealth has overwhelming evidence" and "there are so many accusers." He told the jury of seven women and five men that he would try and discredit the alleged victims and other witnesses in a bid to defend Sandusky.

"It is rare, it is absolutely totally unusual for an alleged victim to have an attorney beside them, representing them, and yet six and possibly more we have evidence to show that one of them had an attorney before they ever talked to attorney general in this case," Amendola said.

"Evidence going to show that six of eight young men have civil litigation," the lawyer said. He later added, "These young men have a financial interest."

Sandusky, dressed in a gray suit jacket and khaki pants, sat hunched over at the defense table, flanked by his two defense attorneys and a legal assistant. The arrest of the former defensive coordinator last December sent shockwaves through the university, ending the careers of head coach Joseph Paterno and university president Graham Spanier, and resulting in the arrest of two other school officials.

McGettigan began the trial by projecting the pictures of eight young boys whom Sandusky allegedly molested onto a screen in front of the courtroom. He said the alleged victims would testify, and the prosecution would provide supporting documents, photographs, and evidence to support their claims. They would also describe the investigation into Sandusky that led to the 52 counts charged against him.

The victim, "just wanted a father figure," McGettigan said, "but the defendant would spoon with him, put his hand down his pants, touch his genitals."

Dottie Sandusky and her son, Matt, were escorted from their seats in the courtroom this morning to be sequestered with other witnesses. Other members of Sandusky's family remained in the courtroom.

A white tent was erected at the court's side entrance where the witnesses are expected to arrive, in order to protect them from the media and the public. Still, the alleged victims' identities will be made public for the first time when they take the stand to testify and their names are read into the public record. ABC News does not report the names of victims of sex crimes.

McGettigan also promised during opening statements to use Sandusky's own media interviews against him in court, noting that the jury would hear Sandusky's responses on NBC and in the New York Times to questions about his alleged crimes, prompting Amendola to confer with his paralegal.

The court took a break ahead of the first witness being called.

The investigation began in 2008 when a high school student in Centre County, Pa., told his mother and school administrators that Sandusky had molested him, launching a widespread but secretive effort to interview dozens of boys Sandusky mentored through his charity, The Second Mile, as well as Penn State officials who may have seen or heard about inappropriate actions.

Charges of child sex abuse were brought against Sandusky on Nov. 4, 2011, igniting a firestorm of scandal around the prestigious football program that led to the dismissal of the university's president and Paterno, and criminal charges against two school officials.

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Testimony from alleged victim No. 4 today raised questions about what Jerry Sandusky’s family and close associates knew about the ex-coach’s interactions with young boys.
Alleged victim No. 4 testified that Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, and adopted son Matt Sandusky were around him when Sandusky was abusing him.

The prosecution witness, now 28, said Dottie interrupted Sandusky trying to force him to perform oral sex in a hotel bathroom during Penn State’s Alamo Bowl trip in 1999. He testified that Dottie didn’t see what was happening directly, but questioned Sandusky after finding he had been in the bathroom with the boy.

Here’s what the man testified happened during that encounter when he was a teen:

He and Jerry Sandusky were out playing racquetball and came to back to the hotel room to get ready for a banquet. The man testified that he was staying in the Sanduskys’ room, but Dottie Sandusky wasn’t there.

The man said the hotel bathroom had separate rooms for the sink and shower. Sandusky was at the sink, with his shirt off, while the witness turned on the shower to get in.

That’s when Sandusky went into the shower area, started to caress him, and pushed him lower, he testified.

He said Sandusky threatened him: “You don’t want to go back to (your hometown), do you?”

When asked what that series of actions meant, the man replied that Sandusky “was trying to get me to give him oral sex or something like that and threatening me if not.”

He said Dottie Sandusky walked into the hotel room about 10 seconds later and called for Jerry Sandusky, who left the bathroom before his wife could find him inside.

The man testified he heard Dottie say, “What are you doing in there?”

“When I got out of the shower, Dottie was gone,” he testified.

The witness told of two other instances — one involving Matt Sandusky, Jerry Sandusky’s adopted son, and another involving Tom Bradley, then an assistant coach for Penn State.

The man testified he went with Jerry and Matt Sandusky to play racquetball, and after returning, they went into the shower area.

The man testified Jerry Sandusky started a soap battle with him, which prompted Matt Sandusky to leave that shower area and go to another one.

When asked, the man said that Matt Sandusky looked “nervous” as he left.

The date or year of that incident wasn’t revealed.

In the third instance, the man testified Bradley walked in when he and Sandusky were showering.
The man said he doesn’t know what Bradley was thinking, but thought Bradley was suspicious of what was going on because he stayed in the shower the whole time until the boy and Sandusky left.

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The second day of testimony in the sex abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky got underway Tuesday morning with tearful testimony from the young man prosecutors have labeled "Victim 1" - a teenager whose mother's complaints in 2008 prompted a grand jury investigation.
The young man, now 18, tearfully told jurors the former Penn State assistant football coach performed oral sex on him after meeting him through his charity. He choked back tears as he spoke of an encounter that included Sandusky fondling him, kissing him and ultimately engaging in a sex act.

"After kissing my forehead and cheek, he moved to my lips," the man said. "He kissed my lips, then he moved to my back again... Then he started to rub underneath my shorts."

The teen told the jury Sandusky would also initiate contact by blowing on his stomach and performed oral sex on him.

"I spaced," the alleged victim said. "I didn't know what to do with all the thoughts running through my head, I just kind of blacked out and didn't want it to happen. I froze."

The teen is the second of Sandusky's accusers to testify in the former coach's high-profile child sex-abuse trial. Sandusky faces 52 counts involving 10 boys over a 15-year span. Sandusky maintains his innocence.

According to the grand jury report on the case, Victim 1 alleges that he met Sandusky through The Second Mile in 2005 or 2006 when he was 11 or 12 years old. The young man told the grand jury that he began staying overnight in a furnished basement bedroom at the Sandusky house in 2007, and that Sandusky would come into the room at bedtime and "crack his back." It was a practice that allegedly led to Sandusky performing oral sex on the boy more than 20 times in 2007 and 2008.

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Teen tells court Sandusky fondled him, engaged in sex act
Published June 12, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – A school guidance counselor initially didn't believe the abuse claims brought by one of Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims because the former Penn State assistant football coach was considered to have "a heart of gold," the accuser told jurors Tuesday.
The teen, labeled Victim No. 1 by a grand jury, tearfully recounted repeated instances of Sandusky kissing him, fondling him and oral sex, mostly in the basement of Sandusky's State College home during sleepovers.
Now 18, the witness recounted an early encounter that escalated to oral sex.
"I spaced," the alleged victim said. "I didn't know what to do with all the thoughts running through my head, I just kind of blacked out and didn't want it to happen. I froze."
As he choked back tears, the sobbing teen recounted another time Sandusky forced him to perform oral sex, after saying it was his "turn."
"I don't know how to explain it. I froze, like any other time," he said. "My mind is telling me to move but I couldn't do it, I couldn't move."
Sandusky faces 52 criminal counts related to the alleged assaults of 10 boys during a 15-year period. Authorities alleged Sandusky abused boys at his home and inside the football team's on-campus facilities among other places.
The charges against him -- and two university officials accused of perjury and failing to report suspected child abuse -- touched off a massive scandal that led to the firing of Paterno and the departure of the university president. Paterno died in January of lung cancer, just over two months after his ouster.
The witness Tuesday said he stayed quiet about the abuse, in part because his mother thought Sandusky was a positive influence in his life. But eventually he asked his mother if there was a website used to track sex offenders. That ultimately led to a meeting with a guidance counselor where he said he'd been abused.
At first, the counselor didn't believe him and questioned the wisdom of going to authorities, the witness said.
"They said we needed to think about it and he has a heart of gold and he wouldn't do something like that. So they didn't believe me," he said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Amendola questioned whether the teen had financial motives for bringing his accusations, which the teen denied.
"All I know is I'm here to tell the truth about what happened to me, just like everybody else," he said.
Sandusky didn't visibly react to the teen's account and looked straight ahead during his testimony.


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McQueary takes stand in Sandusky sex abuse trial
Published June 12, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary told jurors in Jerry Sandusky's sex abuse trial Tuesday that he saw his ex-colleague with a prepubescent boy in an on-campus shower and that he that he heard "skin-on-skin smacking sound."
His account of the night differed little from his appearance in December at a preliminary hearing for Penn State administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz. The one difference: He said the shower encounter took place in 2001 instead of 2002.
But the effect of what he saw, and heard, was unchanged, he said, responding to questions from Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan.
McQueary told the jury that he was at home, in bed, watching the film "Rudy," when he decided to go to the football team building. He said he walked into the support staff locker room to put away a pair of new sneakers and, as he opened the door, he heard the noise.
"Very much skin-on-skin smacking sound," he said. "I immediately became alert and was kind of embarrassed that I was walking in on something."
He said that he turned and glanced over his right shoulder at a mirror that had a 45-dgree angle and saw Sandusky "standing behind a boy who was propped up against a wall." He estimated the boy to be 10 to 12 years old.
He said that the "boy's hands (were) up on the wall. The glance would have taken only one or two seconds. I immediately turned back to my locker to make sure I saw what I saw."
McQueary said he looked directly into the shower and saw Sandusky "standing right up against the back of a young boy" with his arms around his midsection -- "the closest proximity that I think you can be in."
When asked what he saw, McQueary said "the defendant's midsection was moving" subtly.
McQueary said he tried to think and then put his shoes in his locker and slammed it shut, hard.
"I made the loud noise in an attempt to say `Someone's here! Break it up!"' McQueary said, adding that he stepped closer to the opening of the shower room and saw they were separated and facing him directly.
"We looked directly in each other's eyes and at that time I left the locker room," and went upstairs to his office, he said.
"It was more than my brain could handle," he said. "I was making decisions on the fly. I picked up the phone and called my father to get advice from the person I trusted most in my life, because I just saw something ridiculous.
He said he was very vague with his father on the phone, and that his dad, John, told him to leave immediately and come to the house.
McQueary said he went to coach Joe Paterno's house the next morning and relayed what he had seen, but did not describe the act explicitly out of respect for the coach and his own embarrassment.
He said that Curley called him a week after he talked to Paterno and he attended a meeting with him and Schultz. They "just listened to what I had said," McQueary testified. About week or two later, he said Curley called him to say they had looked into it. Yeah, I just bet they did!

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Jerry Sandusky Trial Hears Alleged Victim Say He Was Threatened by Sandusky


By COLLEEN CURRY, BETH LOYD and JIM AVILA (@JimAvilaABC)
BELLEFONTE, Pa. June 13, 2012
Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky twice threatened an 11-year-old boy over oral sex, once telling the frightened kid he would "never see my family again" if he spoke about the alleged assault, a witness testified today in the sex abuse trial.

The witness, who is now 25 and identified by ABC News only as Victim 10, told the court that he was in Sandusky's basement in 1998 when they were wrestling when the "defendant pinned me to the ground and pulled my shorts down and started performing oral sex on me," he said.

"I freaked out. I was scared," Victim 10 testified. The witness said the alleged assault last "a couple of minutes."

"He then went back upstairs. He told me if I told anyone that I would never see my family again," the witness said.

Sandusky later returned to the basement. "He apologized for saying that and that he didn't mean it and that he loved me," Victim 10 said.

The witness said that on another occasion he was riding in Sandusky's car when the coach asked the boy to perform oral sex on him, and the boy refused.

"He got displeased with what I told him. He made a threat to me," Victim 10 testified, and said he then carried out the sex act that Sandusky allegedly demanded.

Victim 10, who was living in a foster home at the time, was the third adult to describe in ">wrenching detail alleged sex assaults carried out by Sandusky on young boys. The former Penn State assistant coach is charged with 52 counts of sex abuse stemming from 10 alleged victims. Sandusky, 68, could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Victim 10 said that during his second year at the Second Mile summer camp, Sandusky swam up between his legs, lifted the boy on his shoulders, and reached up under his shorts and fondled him. The boy felt uncomfortable, but did not say anything.

Sandusky then began asking to hang out with the boy, taking him to football games and to his house, where he sexually assaulted the boy "at least five times," the man said.

The man's roommate at that camp is also an accuser in the case, according to testimony elicited by defense attorney Joseph Amendola, who tried to point to a relationship between the two victims and the possibility of collusion. Victim 10 said he had no spoken to the other accuser in the past year.

Amendola also questioned Victim 10 about his criminal past, including a recent 23-month stint in state prison for robbery of an "older gentleman," and an earlier theft conviction which Victim 10 confirmed. He said he is now married and expecting his first child. He also said he was not represented by any private attorney, upon Amendola's questioning.

The man's testimony left a group of women who were watching the proceedings with agents from the attorney general's office in tears. They got up and left halfway through Victim 10's completion. It is unclear if the women were related to the witness.

The three gripping accounts of alleged sexual abuse were supplemented today and Tuesday by the testimony of eyewitness Mike McQueary and his father, John McQueary. John McQueary was called today to testify to what exactly his son, Mike, told him he saw in the football team's showers during a night in 2001.


Mike McQueary testified Tuesday that he walked into the locker room on a Friday night and saw Sandusky in the shower with a small boy, with the boy pressed up against the wall and Sandusky pressed up against the boy in an "extremely sexual" position, and heard slapping "skin on skin" sounds. He immediately called his father to tell him what he had seen, he testified.

John McQueary confirmed that his son told him he had seen Sandusky with a boy in the shower, but John said he asked his son detailed questions about whether he saw "penetration" or "sodomy." His son responded that he had not seen that.

"I tried to get a more descriptive understanding and I asked him exactly what he saw. I was a little more descriptive myself seeing that Mike was struggling a little bit and I said 'were you watching?'"

John NcQueary paused and asked the prosecutor, "How free can I be hear with language? I asked him if he'd seen anal sex, said, 'Did you see anything that you could verify, penetration?' I might have used the word sodomy, and he said, 'no I did not actually see that,' and I said, 'so you did not actually witness penetration or anything?' and he said 'no.'"

The testimony confirmed what Mike McQueary had said Tuesday, when he said that he was confident it was anal sex but did not see "insertion" or Sandusky's genitals.

The eyewitness account of rape is key to the prosecution's case. McQueary's testimony came under scrutiny after the prosecution changed the alleged date of the incident from 2002 to 2001, and reports that McQueary told different versions of the events to different people.

Amendola had said he hoped to discredit McQueary and then show that the alleged victims were lying about the abuse in hopes of suing for money.

A fourth alleged victim, known as Victim 5, is also expected to testify today.

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Victim 1: Sandusky allegedly fondled him and performed oral sex on him multiple times, in his home and State College hotels. The boy was 11-15 years old at the time. Sandusky was barred from his central Pennsylvania high school in 2009 after the boy’s mother alerted school officials, triggering the investigation that produced charges. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 2: A boy of about 10 that a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, has said he saw being attacked by Sandusky in the team showers in February 2001. Investigators have not been able to determine the boy’s identity. McQueary reported what he saw to head coach Joe Paterno, and Paterno’s handling of it contributed to the university board of trustee’s decision to fire him shortly after Sandusky was arrested in November. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 3: Sandusky hugged him in the shower and fondled him twice, according to the grand jury report. The incidents allegedly occurred between July 1999 and December 2001, at Sandusky’s home and in team showers. The boy was 12-14. Indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 4: Sandusky is accused of repeated involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Prosecutors say more than 50 alleged incidents occurred between 1996 and 2000, at the Sandusky home, hotels and university facilities, while the boy was 12-17. He also traveled with the Sandusky family to bowl games in Texas and Florida. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (three counts), aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 5: Sandusky put his hand on the boy’s leg while in a car, they showered together and he placed the boy’s hand on his genitals, according to his testimony in court. The alleged incident occurred in August 2001, while the boy was 12 or 13. Indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 6: While showering together in May 1998, Sandusky allegedly grabbed him and said, “I’m going to squeeze your guts out,” according to the grand jury. The boy’s mother complained when he came home with wet hair, prompting a police investigation at the time that did not result in charges. The boy was 11. Indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 7: They showered together and Sandusky bear hugged him in 1995-96, and more than once he put his hands down the waistband of the boy’s pants, according to the grand jury. Sandusky did not touch his genitals, the jury said. The boy was 9-11. Attempted indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 8: Boy of about 11 to 13, seen in late November 2000 by a university janitor allegedly being subjected to sexual abuse by Sandusky in the team showers. The janitor now has dementia and is not available to testify, but a co-worker testified this week, telling juros what the janitor told him. The boy has not been identified by investigators. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 9: Part of second set of charges. Boy was subjected to sexual abuse by Sandusky at the Sandusky home, a State College hotel and other locations between July 2005 and December 2008, according to prosecutors. He was 12-15 at the time. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

—Victim 10: Part of second set of charges. Boy was subjected to sexual abuse between September 1997 and July 1999 at the Sandusky home and car and at an area pool. He testified Wednesday and claimed that Sandusky said he’d never see his family again if he said anything. The boy was 11. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (two counts), indecent assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, endangering a child’s welfare.

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Detective tells court Sandusky should have been charged years ago but DA didn't agree

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – A man testified Thursday that Jerry Sandusky called himself the "tickle monster" and embraced the then-11-year-old boy in a Penn State shower in 1998, an encounter that prompted an investigation but ultimately ended without any charges being filed.

The then-district attorney's decision not to bring charges against the Penn State assistant football coach was a mistake, an investigator testified.

The now-25-year-old alleged victim told jurors Sandusky embraced him in a locker room shower, lathered up his back and shoulders then lifted him chest-to-chest to a shower head to rinse out his hair.

The man said the shared shower happened after a brief workout at a campus gym -- even though he hadn't broken a sweat. His mother went to authorities when she saw her son come home with wet hair, although the inquiry spawned by her report didn't lead to any charges.

One of the investigators who interviewed the boy and Sandusky at the time, Ronald Schreffler, told the court he thought charges were warranted but that the district attorney, Ray Gricar, disagreed.

Gricar cannot explain his decision -- he disappeared in 2005 and was later declared legally dead.

The man who testified about the shower encounter is identified by prosecutors as Victim 6, and he is the sixth accuser to testify at Sandusky's sex abuse trial.

The ex-coach faces 52 criminal counts involving alleged assaults of 10 boys over a 15-year span. He denies the charges, which brought disgrace to Penn State and led to the ouster of both the school's president and Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno.

On cross-examination, the man testified that in recent years he and Sandusky exchanged text messages, sent notes for holidays and special occasions and last summer met for lunch. He also told the court that Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, had supported a mission trip he took to Mexico.

When asked why he had decided to testify against Sandusky, the witness said he had been approached by investigators and asked to think more about the 1998 encounter.

"As I started to go over it in my mind I quickly realized, my perception changed thinking about it as an adult as opposed to an 11-year-old," he said. "That was inappropriate, what happened to me."

Asked if he was looking for financial benefit from coming forward, the man replied, "Zero."

Schreffler, a former Penn State police officer who now works for the Department of Homeland Security, said he overheard Sandusky tell to alleged victim's mother that he wished he was dead as investigators listened in on a conversation set up for the woman to confront him.

During his cross-examination, Sandusky's attorney presented a transcript of an interview with the accuser in which the boy said there was no sexual contact in the shower.

Gricar was last seen April 15, 2005, about nine months before he was to retire as district attorney, after telling his girlfriend he was going for a drive. His car later was found abandoned at an antiques market.

Gricar's laptop was found three months later in the nearby Susquehanna River, without its hard drive, which was found separately -- and upriver -- that October. Investigators later said Gricar had done searches on another computer about how to destroy a hard drive, without explaining why that might be relevant to his disappearance.

The trial is in its fourth day and jurors have heard from young men who claim Sandusky had inappropriate contact with them, sometimes at his State College home or in the showers of a campus locker room.

Testimony through the first three days of the trial painted Sandusky as a man who used his fame as a top assistant to Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno to hold sway over boys..

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We have a thread on Ray Gricar at:
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The final prosecution witness in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky testified Thursday that Sandusky forcibly raped him on several occasions.
The testimony came on the fourth day of Sandusky's trial on 52 counts alleging that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships. Sandusky has pleaded not guilty.

The 18-year-old man, identified in the indictment as "Victim 9," testified that he cried out for help as Sandusky raped him in the basement of the Sandusky home, but no one came to his assistance. He said he believed that the basement was soundproofed and that Sandusky's wife, Dottie, couldn't hear his pleas.

It was the most graphic and dramatic testimony so far at the trial in Bellefonte, Pa. Afterward, Judge John Cleland announced that the prosecution had concluded its case and that the defense would begin Monday after a three-day break.

The man said he stayed overnight at Sandusky's house between 50 and 100 times. He said Sandusky began forcibly raping him beginning when he was "maybe 13."
On some occasions, he said, the assaults were so forceful that he would bleed from his anus. He said he didn't seek medical attention; instead, "I just dealt with it."
"What was I going to do? I mean, he was a big guy," the man said. "He was bigger than me at the time, way bigger than me."
The man said he told no one about the abuse — even police when they began investigating — because he thought no one would believe him.
"He's an important guy — he's a football coach," he said. "Who would believe kids?"

On cross-examination, the man acknowledged that despite the "horrible" things Sandusky did to him, he continued to accept tickets to Penn State football games from the defendant as recently as last November. He said he did so "because I had a friend with me" who "had my back at the time."
The man's testimony was the most disturbing of that of all eight of the alleged victims who agreed to testify at Sandusky's trial.
Previous witnesses testified that Sandusky engaged in oral sex and groped their genitals, and another witness, former Penn State assistant coach Michael McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky engaging in sex with a young boy in a Penn State shower. But none of the previous witnesses has described the sexual relation as having occurred under extreme force.
Defense attorney Joseph Amendola, as he has with most of the other alleged victims, closely questioned the man on precise details about what allegedly happened and when, part of a strategy to raise questions about whether the accusers — some of whom have sued the university or have said they plan to sue Sandusky — are making up their stories for financial gain.

Earlier Thursday, Anthony Sassano, an investigator with the state attorney general's office, testified that Penn State dragged its heels numerous times on cooperating with the investigation, requiring investigators to seek search warrants and to subpoena the names of university employees.
"Penn State, to be quite frank, was not very fast on getting us the information," he said in the latest of several accounts jurors have heard that suggested that university administrators and local prosecutors knew about Sandusky's alleged pedophilia for many years but chose not to take action.

Two former top university officials have already been charged with perjury in connection with the Sandusky investigation.
Ronald Schreffler, who as a Penn State police investigator began investigating Sandusky in the late 1990s, also testified that he believed Sandusky was allowed to get away with his alleged behavior for far too many years, saying Sandusky should have faced criminal charges as long as 14 years ago.
Schreffler, who now works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, testified that when he and youth services officials recommended that Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar bring criminal charges, Gricar declined. The decision by Gricar — who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2005 and has been declared dead — remains one of the central mysteries of the Sandusky investigation.
'Jer' needs a 'best friend'
Some of the most bizarre evidence of the entire trial also emerged Thursday, including a "short story" Sandusky wrote that described his relationship with a boy who apparently attended his camps, which was found in one of the boxes at Penn State.
In the story, which was read aloud in court, Sandusky refers to himself in the third person as "Jer" and to the boy by his first name. Although Sandusky's alleged victims are being identified by name in court, NBC News and msnbc.com do not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults and have replaced the young man's name with (X).
"I'm Jerry. (X) is a young man who came into Jer's life," the story reads.
Later, telling how "Jer" was distressed that the boy had broken off the relationship, the story continues:
"'Tell me another story, Jer,' has been replaced with 'I don't care.' This cloud has destroyed soccer and hockey, choked smiles and laughter. There is fear that has reached his inside and killed his feelings. ...
"Jer might not be worthy, but he needs a 'best friend.'"
The trial, which opened Monday in Centre County Court, follows months of intense coverage of the case that led to the firing of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, a college football legend who won more games than any other major college coach in history. Sandusky, who was at his side for many of those victories, was for many years presumed to be Paterno's heir apparent.
Paterno died in January, a few weeks after the Penn State Board of Trustees dismissed him for not having done enough to stop Sandusky's alleged abuse.

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Dottie Sandusky takes the stand at husband's sex abuse trial
Published June 19, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Jerry Sandusky's wife smiled as she took the witness stand on Tuesday to defend him against charges he sexually abused boys in their home and on Penn State's campus, and jurors also heard police investigators contradict themselves and psychological experts duel over evaluations of the defendant.
Dottie Sandusky said she remembered most but not all of the eight men who have accused her husband of abusing them as children. She told jurors she did not see him have inappropriate contact with them over the years they visited the couple's home or traveled with them.
In a calm voice during an hour of testimony, she described her 45-year marriage to the former Penn State assistant football coach, but lead prosecutor Joe McGettigan appeared to stump her when he asked why the men might lie in making the accusations.
"I don't know what it would be for," she said, with a slight shake of her head.
A large portion of the day's testimony, which included 11 more character witnesses, consisted of a defense psychologist, Elliott Atkins, who told jurors he believes Jerry Sandusky has a personality disorder that might explain letters addressed to one of his accusers, while prosecutors countered with psychiatrist Dr. John Sebastian O'Brien II, who said that was not the case but that he might suffer from some other problem, possibly psychosexual disorder with a focus on pre-adolescents.
Judge John Cleland told jurors the case remains on track for defense testimony to likely conclude Wednesday morning, closing statements Thursday morning and deliberations to begin that afternoon. It remained unclear whether Sandusky will take the stand in his own defense.
Sandusky is charged with dozens of criminal counts related to 10 boys over a 15-year span. He's accused of engaging in illegal sexual contact ranging from fondling to forced oral and anal sex, and he could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
Dottie Sandusky has stood by her husband, posting his bail, accompanying him to court proceedings and in December issuing a statement that proclaimed his innocence and said that accusers were making up their stories.
Part of the defense strategy is clearly to show that the details of accusers' stories are wrong, but Dottie Sandusky was unable to say with much precision how often certain boys would stay in the couple's State College home. She said one of the boys, called Victim 10 in court records, she did not know at all.
She described Victim 1 as "clingy," Victim 9 as "a charmer" and Victim 4 as "very conniving, and he wanted his way and he didn't listen a whole lot."
Victim 9 testified last week that he was attacked by Jerry Sandusky in the basement of the ex-coach's home and cried out for help when Dottie Sandusky was upstairs. She, however, said the basement was not soundproof and she would have been able to hear shouting if she was upstairs.
Dottie Sandusky, who isn't charged in the case, also said the visiting boys were free to sleep upstairs if they wanted to. The accusers have said Jerry Sandusky directed them to the basement, where they allege he sometimes molested them.
Police handling of an initial interview with Victim 4 may have helped the defense. Now-retired Cpl. Joseph A. Leiter testified police "never told any of them what anyone else had ever told us" before jurors were played a tape of that interview, in which Leiter told Victim 4 that they had been told by others that oral sex and a rape had occurred. Leiter also said that "in some of our interviews ... we did" tell accusers that others had come forward.
"Each of these accusers was very, very seriously injured, and very concerned, and we had told them -- especially prior to going to the grand jury -- that they wouldn't be alone, that there were others," he said.
Also, Leiter told jurors after a recess that he had discussed his testimony with Trooper Scott Rossman over the break, shortly after Rossman told jurors that such a discussion had not occurred.
Victim 4's attorney, Ben Andreozzi, was there the day of that initial interview, and he told jurors a guilty verdict in Sandusky's trial could have an impact on his client if he files a civil lawsuit. He said a decision about a lawsuit has not been made.
The potential for accusers to cash in through a civil lawsuit is part of Sandusky's defense strategy, suggesting to the jury that the accusers have motives to lie.
A witness told jurors that she knew Victim 4 through her brother and that he had a reputation for "dishonesty and embellished stories." The woman, who said her brother was the accuser's best friend, is an Iraq war veteran who suffered a brain injury before she was discharged.
Witness Joshua Frabel, who lived next door to Victim 1, recalled that the young man's mother said she had just heard Sandusky molested her child and that she would end up owning Sandusky's house.
"She had said about, when all this settles out, she'll have a nice big house in the country with a fence, and the dogs can run free," he said.
He added that Victim 1 told him: "When this is over, I'll have a nice new Jeep."
The mother took the witness stand to deny it, and Victim 1 denied it last week during his testimony.
The defense also called former New York Jets linebacker Lance Mehl, who played for the Nittany Lions in the 1970s. When Amendola asked him about Sandusky's reputation, he replied, "We all looked up to him as a class act."
Earlier Tuesday, Amendola told reporters to "stay tuned" to find out if Sandusky would take the stand, comparing the case to a soap opera. Asked which soap opera, Amendola initially said "General Hospital," then "All My Children."
Prosecutors rested their case Monday after presenting 21 witnesses, including eight who said they had been assaulted by Sandusky. The identities of two other people prosecutors say were victims are unknown to investigators. The defense has called 24 witnesses.
Sandusky's arrest led the university trustees to fire football coach Joe Paterno in November, saying his response to a 2001 report from team assistant Mike McQueary about seeing Sandusky in a shower with a boy showed a lack of leadership. Paterno, who said he wished he had done more, died of cancer in January.
Sandusky has acknowledged showering with boys but says he didn't molest them.

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I'm so afraid that he's going to walk free like so many that we've see lately. that justice will be served.

I really doubt he will walk free but then again I thought KC would not walk free either.
I did not expect Ms. Sandusky to testify any other way. Of course I believe she had to know about all of this. I knew she would stand by him. She don't want to lose all their money and their house.

Why doesn't the prosecution bring in the boy that Mike McQueary said he saw Sandusky abusing in the shower and have him testify?

BJ wrote:

Why doesn't the prosecution bring in the boy that Mike McQueary said he saw Sandusky abusing in the shower and have him testify?

I read somewhere (don't have the link) that they had not been able to identify who the boy was and that he has not come forward. It seems that McQueary would have some idea who it was since he said that they both turned and looked at him. But maybe the boy just doesn't want to put himself out there..

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The defense team for Jerry Sandusky, accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, rested on Wednesday without the former coach taking the stand.
Defense attorney Joe Amendola had told reporters earlier to "stay tuned" to see if the former Penn State defensive coordinator would testify. It was thought his testimony could provide the opening that prosecutors needed to introduce new evidence against the former coach.
In a segment that wasn't included in NBC's November 2011 broadcast of an interview with Sandusky, he told Bob Costas that he "didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped."
There are likely "many young people who would come forward and say that my methods and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life," the ex-coach told Costas in the segment, which court observers thought prosecutors might want to introduce as new evidence in the case.
What else Sandusky said to Costas Sandusky's wife: I didn't see any abuse What will jury do with Jerry Sandusky?
Sandusky, 68, is on trial on 51 counts related to accusations of child sex abuse.
After the defense rested, the prosecution said it had no further rebuttal witnesses, and the judge scheduled closing arguments to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday.
The prosecution had called its only rebuttal witness on Tuesday, to counter testimony that raised questions about Sandusky's mental health.
Dr. Elliot Atkins testified that he diagnosed Sandusky with histrionic personality disorder, a class of conditions called dramatic personality disorders, which are marked by unstable emotions and distorted self-images. But a second psychologist, prosecution witness Dr. John O'Brien, disputed those findings, saying that the "personality profile Mr. Sandusky exhibited was within normal limits."
At least one trial observer had said there was good reason for the defense to call Sandusky to the stand.
Veteran criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby said Sandusky is facing a "tsunami of evidence against him," and suggested that taking take the stand may be a way to help his case.
"Just maybe he can convince one juror to hold out," Kuby said. "A hung jury, right now, is a lot better than life without parole."
Prosecutors wrapped up their case Monday.
On Tuesday, Sandusky's wife told jurors that she could remember at least six of her husband's accusers staying overnight at their house, and said she did not witness any sexual abuse.
One of the accusers had once traveled with them to the Alamo Bowl, Dottie Sandusky recalled, where she and her husband shared a hotel room with the boy.
Many of the accusers testified that they knew Dottie Sandusky, who is not accused of having witnessed the alleged abuse.
She testified that children would often sleep at the Sanduskys' house and that "we would give them a choice of where they wanted to sleep."
Her husband was also typically the one to put the children to sleep, she said, telling jurors that "he would go downstairs and tell them good night."
The final prosecution witness testified Monday that her son seemed to suffer from stomach ailments during the times he was visiting Sandusky and sometimes did not want to visit the former Penn State assistant's home.
But she said she didn't ask him about any possible abuse and still does not know what happened to him.
"I didn't really want to hear," she said, crying.
The defense then opened its case with a former Penn State coach who testified about Sandusky's stellar reputation in the community.
Richard Anderson said it was not uncommon for coaches and youths to use the shower at the same time, and that he had never seen anything inappropriate between Sandusky and a child.
The defense called five other witnesses who supported the view of Sandusky's good reputation in the community.
"A lot of people lied," Amendola had said in his opening statement.
Over four days, several prosecution witnesses testified that Sandusky forced them to engage in sexual acts with him in various places, including showers in the Penn State coaches' locker room, hotel rooms and the basement of his home.
One told jurors that Sandusky -- whom he met, like many of the accusers, through the Second Mile nonprofit for disadvantaged youths that the ex-coach founded -- had threatened him if he told others about the abuse.
Another said Sandusky warned he might send him home from a trip to Texas, where they'd gone to watch a Penn State bowl game.
The defense challenged the accusers' timetable, questioning whether Sandusky could have committed the crimes they claim he did when they say he did.
On Monday, prosecutors dropped one of the 52 counts against Sandusky because the statute he was charged with wasn't in effect on the date of the alleged incident.
The accuser said the incident occurred in 1995 or 1996, but the unlawful contact with a minor statute didn't apply until 1997.
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Jury begins deliberations in Sandusky trial, while judge tosses 3 of 51 counts
Published June 21, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa – Jurors in Jerry Sandusky's child sexual abuse case began deliberations Thursday after prosecutors described him as a child molester who groomed his victims, while a defense attorney said the former Penn State assistant football coach was being victimized by an overzealous prosecution and greedy accusers.
Prosecutors sought to portray Sandusky as a "predatory pedophile" who used gifts and the pageantry of Penn State's vaunted football program to lure and abuse vulnerable boys who came from troubled homes.
"What you should do is come out and say to the defendant that he molested and abused and give them back their souls," Senior Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan. "I give them to you. Acknowledge and give them justice."
Sandusky's attorney called the former coach a generous man being victimized by investigators who led accusers into making false claims about a beloved father figure whose charity gave them much-needed love.
"They went after him, and I submit to you they were going to get him hell or high water, even if they had to coach witnesses," Amendola said in a sometimes angry closing argument.
If convicted, Sandusky could spend the rest of his life in state prison. He is charged with 48 counts related to 10 boys over 15 years. The jury includes nine with ties to Penn State University.
The closing arguments came after seven days testimony, some of it graphically describing alleged abuse suffered at the hands of Sandusky, including touching in showers, fondling and in some cases forced oral or anal sex.
Sandusky, 68, did not take the stand in his own defense. Eight young men testified that they were victims of the former Penn State assistant football coach, and jurors also heard about two other alleged victims through other witnesses, including another former coach.
It was the testimony of that coach, then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, that led to the massive scandal that prompted university trustees the fire longtime coach Joe Paterno and the university's president.
Sandusky has repeatedly denied the allegations, and his defense at trial included a suggestion that his accusers have a financial motive to make up stories, years after the fact.
The eight accusers testified about a range of alleged abuse, from kissing and massages to groping, oral sex and anal rape. Penn State football assistant Mike McQueary said he witnessed Sandusky in a team shower with a young boy more than a decade ago, and is convinced Sandusky was molesting the child.
Defense witnesses, including Sandusky's wife, Dottie, described his philanthropic work with children over the years, and many of the 28 defense witnesses spoke in positive terms about his reputation in the community.
Sandusky's arrest in November led the Penn State trustees to fire Paterno, saying he exhibited a lack of leadership after fielding a report from McQueary about the 2001 incident. The scandal also led to the ouster of university president Graham Spanier, and criminal charges against two university administrators for failing to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury.
The two administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz, are fighting the allegations and await trial.

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Matt Sandusky, an adopted son of Jerry Sandusky, said through his attorneys Thursday that he had been prepared to testify for the prosecution.

He said he was a victim of Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse, according to attorneys Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici.

Matt Sandusky, one of Jerry Sandusky's adopted children, has said that he was molested by the former Penn State defensive coordinator, according to a statement from his lawyers.

The allegation comes as Sandusky is awaiting the verdict in his child rape trial. Matt Sandusky, who has defended his father as he faced child rape charges, said through his attorneys Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici that he met with prosecutors this week to tell them he was a victim for the first time.

"During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky’s abuse," Matt Sandusky's lawyers said in a statement obtained by InSession. "At Matt’s request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators."

No further details were released about the circumstances surrounding the alleged molestation or when Matt Sandusky claims the abuse occurred.

"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy," a statement from Matt Sandusky's lawyer said. "There will be no further comment at this time."

Sandusky is currently facing accusations of sexual abuse from 10 alleged victims. Sandusky, 68, has pleaded not guilty to charges of child sex abuse over a 15-year period. He faces 48 counts in the trial.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Joe Amendola sought to poke holes in the prosecution's case, pointing to inconsistencies with the testimony of Mike McQueary, a former graduate student and assistant coach who said he saw Sandusky apparently sodomizing a boy in a university shower.

He also reminded jurors of the lack of physical evidence and accused the alleged victims of conspiring for financial gain while blaming the media for what he described as biased coverage.

Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan followed Amendola, rebuffing the defense's account of a coordinated action among Sandusky's accusers allegedly bent on financial gain.

"The great thing about conspiracy theories is you just let them go on and on, until they collapse under their own weight," he said.

McGettigan described the former coach as a pedophile who systematically preyed on his victims with a calculated and repeated approach.

"The Commonwealth has overwhelming evidence against Mr. Sandusky," he said.
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Sandusky's adopted son says former Penn State coach abused him
Published June 21, 2012

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Lawyers for one of Jerry Sandusky's adopted sons said the man has told authorities the former Penn State assistant football coach abused him.
The lawyers issued a statement Thursday naming Matt Sandusky, one of Jerry Sandusky's six adopted children, and saying that the 33-year-old had been prepared to testify on behalf of prosecutors at his father's sex abuse trial.
"During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky's abuse," Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici wrote in the statement. "At Matt's request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators.
"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy. There will be no further comment."
The statement was issued after jurors in the ex-coach's child sex abuse trial began deliberating 48 charges against him. The jurors are sequestered during deliberations.
Lawyers for Matt and Jerry Sandusky and prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Matt Sandusky went to live with Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, as a foster child and was adopted by them as an adult.
Shortly after the former coach's arrest in November, Matt Sandusky's ex-wife went to court to keep her former father-in-law away from their three young children. Jill Jones successfully obtained a restraining order forbidding the children from sleeping over at their grandparents' home.
At around the same time, details emerged that Matt Sandusky had attempted suicide just four months after first going to live with the couple in 1995. He had come into the home through The Second Mile charity, which Jerry Sandusky founded, and was first a foster child before being legally adopted.
During testimony last week, an accuser known as Victim 4 said Matt Sandusky was living at the Sandusky home at the time he stayed there overnight.
When asked by prosecutors whether Jerry Sandusky ever engaged him in a soap battle in the showers, he recounted the time when he and Matt Sandusky had been playing racket ball. After they were done, he said, they went back to a locker room. Matt got undressed and got into the shower and then Victim 4 and Sandusky followed him in there, he testified.
"Me and Jerry came in. He started pumping his hand full of soap," he said.
At that point, Matt shut off his shower and left and went to another locker room to shower, the witness said.
Asked by prosecutors about Matt's facial expression when the soap battles started, he replied: "Nervous."
Jurors began their deliberations Thursday after prosecutors described him as a serial molester who groomed his victims, while his defense lawyer said the former Penn State assistant football coach was being victimized by an overzealous prosecution and greedy accusers.
Prosecutors said Sandusky was "a serial, predatory pedophile" who used gifts and the pageantry of Penn State's vaunted football program to lure and abuse vulnerable boys who came from troubled homes.
"What you should do is come out and say to the defendant that he molested and abused and give them back their souls," Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan III. "I give them to you. Acknowledge and give them justice."
Standing behind Sandusky, McGettigan implored the jury to convict him
"He molested and abused and hurt these children horribly," McGettigan said. "He knows he did it, and you know he did it.
"Find him guilty of everything."
Sandusky's attorney said the 68-year-old former coach was being victimized by investigators who led accusers into making false claims about a generous man whose charity gave them much-needed love.
"They went after him, and I submit to you they were going to get him hell or high water, even if they had to coach witnesses," Amendola said in a sometimes angry closing argument.
If convicted, Sandusky could spend the rest of his life in state prison.

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Tells why he didn't testify:

Sources close to the case said that Matt Sandusky, one of six children adopted by the Sanduskys, contacted prosecutors late last week to say that he was willing to testify. Prosecutors couldn't call him to the stand for direct questioning because he was not included in the charges against his father.

But they could have called Matt Sandusky to the stand as a rebuttal witness if Jerry Sandusky took the stand, sources said.

Lawyers for Jerry Sandusky said they were considering allowing him to testifyup until the last day of testimony Wednesday when the changed their mind. I bet I know why!

Matt Sandusky is one of six children he and his wife adopted. Matt had been one of his father's staunchest supporters despite his birth mother claiming Debra Long testifying before a grand jury that she her son was upset about staying with Sandusky. Matt Sandusky attempted suicide several months after moving in with Sandusky in 1995.

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By the way, I keep reading that coaches showering with the boys was "not unusual". I say right here and now, that practice needs to STOP IMMEDIATELY and adults should in no way be permitted to shower with boys/ students/ athletes. Good Lord. Common sense, people!

In 7th grade I had a really grose gym teacher, she was an old woman and was probably the first lesbian I was ever aware of knowing. She would insist we take showers after every gym class in front of her, I cannot imagine the horror these boys went through being molested by a grown man who they at one point admired (I assume) and who had power over them.
Makes me sick. I hope this nasty old man is locked up for the rest of his life.
His stupid "act", lumbering around like he has some kind of mental problem, those white bunny teeth- don't fool me. I see a snake, no matter what the outside looks like.
JMO

Wonder if this jury finds him "not guilty", charges can be brought against him because of Matt's claims?

lisette wrote:Wonder if this jury finds him "not guilty", charges can be brought against him because of Matt's claims?

I have been wondering the same thing Lisette!

I wonder if his wife will continue to stand by him now that one of her children has come forward? If she does I think shes known all along and is just as guilty as he is.JMO

JMO too Slys!

HippyChick2 wrote:By the way, I keep reading that coaches showering with the boys was "not unusual". I say right here and now, that practice needs to STOP IMMEDIATELY and adults should in no way be permitted to shower with boys/ students/ athletes. Good Lord. Common sense, people!

I agree!

Jury is still deliberating this morning and reviewing testimony from two witnesses. I hope they have a verdict before they go home for the weekend!