BELLEFONTE, Pa. – The alleged victim who triggered the wide-ranging criminal investigation of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky could testify here as early as Tuesday, as the 68-year-old coach's child sex abuse trial moved into its second day.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves a courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., after the first day of his trial Monday.
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The witness, designated in a Pennsylvania grand jury report as "Victim 1," has alleged that Sandusky abused him during a period of four years, starting when the witness was 11 years old.
When the boy's mother became suspicious of Sandusky's alleged behavior, prosecutors have said that she took her son — despite concerns of school officials supportive of Sandusky — to state youth authorities in 2008, prompting the criminal investigation that ultimately resulted in 52 charges against the coach, involving 10 alleged victims during a 15-year period.
The witness's expected appearance follows the detailed testimony Monday of another alleged victim who told jurors that he was forced into about 50 sexual encounters by Sandusky during the course of five years, beginning when he was about 12 years old.
Now 28, the witness said Monday that his interactions with Sandusky escalated from friendly trips and "soap battles" in the showers of a Penn State locker room to inappropriate touching, then in 1997 veered into dozens of incidents of oral sex.
[h=2]Earlier stories on Sandusky trial[/h]
The witness said that when he tried to distance himself from Sandusky — they first met when the then-12-year-old was participating in programs run by Sandusky's charity for kids, The Second Mile — the coach became upset. The witness said later efforts to end contact brought "creepy love letters" in which the coach professed his deep feelings for the boy.
The letters, some hand-printed or written on Penn State stationery, were projected onto a screen. In one, Sandusky refers to "mistakes" before writing "love never ends."
Saying he wanted to "bury forever" the memories, the witness said he agreed to testify only after police "hunted me down." He said he later agreed to provide details to a grand jury after learning that others said they had been victimized by the coach.
"I feel if I just said something back then — I feel responsible for what happened to other victims," he said. He said he sometimes tried to resist the alleged advances, but he never confronted the coach. "I didn't want to lose everything," he said, referring to gifts, trips, cash and access to Penn State football that Sandusky provided. "I was too scared."
The witness said the coach asked him to sign contracts, promising him up to $1,000 for college if he agreed to remain in exercise and study programs monitored by the coach.
When defense attorney Joe Amendola suggested that the witness had hired a lawyer to pursue a lucrative civil lawsuit against the coach and the university, the witness said he had "never" discussed such a possibility.
Judge John Cleland had ruled earlier that the alleged victims would be identified in court, but USA TODAY generally does not name people claiming sexual abuse.
Sandusky, 68, is standing trial on 52 charges of abusing 10 children over 15 years. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Cleland has said the trial could take three weeks.
Prosecutors laid out their case Monday morning. Pennsylvania Senior Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan called Sandusky a "systematic serial predator" who selected victims from a "vast pool" of children involved in The Second Mile.
Occasionally jabbing a finger in Sandusky's direction, he said the former coach always "escalated" his behavior, generally beginning with activities such as trips to ballgames before moving into sexually charged encounters, including intercourse and oral sex. Snowboards, hockey sticks and other items described in a grand jury report as gifts to a victim were carried into the courthouse.
Amendola said his client was innocent and raised the prospect that Sandusky might testify. Acknowledging that Sandusky showered with children, he said Sandusky is "going to tell you it was routine."
He signaled that he would attack the credibility of the alleged victims. Because six have hired civil lawyers, Amendola suggested that they were seeking financial gain by bringing allegations against someone with close ties to a rich university.
"There are no victims in this case," he said. "The only time you can say there is a victim is when you determine beyond a reasonable doubt that Jerry Sandusky is guilty of something."
The trial began seven months after Sandusky's arrest in November.
It triggered a dizzying series of events, including the ouster of university president Graham Spanier and football coaching legend Joe Paterno, who died soon after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Neither Paterno nor Spanier was charged. Athletic director Tim Curley, now on leave, and retired senior vice president Gary Schultz were charged with lying to the grand jury about what they were told about a 2001 incident in the Penn State locker room showers.
Michael McQueary, an assistant football coach on administrative leave, has said he told the administrators he saw Sandusky engaging in sexual conduct with a boy, believed to be about 11, who has not been identified. They told the grand jury that McQueary's account did not describe sexual activity.
They have denied wrongdoing and are awaiting trial on charges of failing to report suspected abuse and lying to the grand jury.
Contributing: Gary Strauss in McLean, Va.
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves a courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., after the first day of his trial Monday.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves a courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., after the first day of his trial Monday.
[h=2]Sponsored Links[/h]
The witness, designated in a Pennsylvania grand jury report as "Victim 1," has alleged that Sandusky abused him during a period of four years, starting when the witness was 11 years old.
When the boy's mother became suspicious of Sandusky's alleged behavior, prosecutors have said that she took her son — despite concerns of school officials supportive of Sandusky — to state youth authorities in 2008, prompting the criminal investigation that ultimately resulted in 52 charges against the coach, involving 10 alleged victims during a 15-year period.
The witness's expected appearance follows the detailed testimony Monday of another alleged victim who told jurors that he was forced into about 50 sexual encounters by Sandusky during the course of five years, beginning when he was about 12 years old.
Now 28, the witness said Monday that his interactions with Sandusky escalated from friendly trips and "soap battles" in the showers of a Penn State locker room to inappropriate touching, then in 1997 veered into dozens of incidents of oral sex.
[h=2]Earlier stories on Sandusky trial[/h]
The witness said that when he tried to distance himself from Sandusky — they first met when the then-12-year-old was participating in programs run by Sandusky's charity for kids, The Second Mile — the coach became upset. The witness said later efforts to end contact brought "creepy love letters" in which the coach professed his deep feelings for the boy.
The letters, some hand-printed or written on Penn State stationery, were projected onto a screen. In one, Sandusky refers to "mistakes" before writing "love never ends."
Saying he wanted to "bury forever" the memories, the witness said he agreed to testify only after police "hunted me down." He said he later agreed to provide details to a grand jury after learning that others said they had been victimized by the coach.
"I feel if I just said something back then — I feel responsible for what happened to other victims," he said. He said he sometimes tried to resist the alleged advances, but he never confronted the coach. "I didn't want to lose everything," he said, referring to gifts, trips, cash and access to Penn State football that Sandusky provided. "I was too scared."
The witness said the coach asked him to sign contracts, promising him up to $1,000 for college if he agreed to remain in exercise and study programs monitored by the coach.
When defense attorney Joe Amendola suggested that the witness had hired a lawyer to pursue a lucrative civil lawsuit against the coach and the university, the witness said he had "never" discussed such a possibility.
Judge John Cleland had ruled earlier that the alleged victims would be identified in court, but USA TODAY generally does not name people claiming sexual abuse.
Sandusky, 68, is standing trial on 52 charges of abusing 10 children over 15 years. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Cleland has said the trial could take three weeks.
Prosecutors laid out their case Monday morning. Pennsylvania Senior Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan called Sandusky a "systematic serial predator" who selected victims from a "vast pool" of children involved in The Second Mile.
Occasionally jabbing a finger in Sandusky's direction, he said the former coach always "escalated" his behavior, generally beginning with activities such as trips to ballgames before moving into sexually charged encounters, including intercourse and oral sex. Snowboards, hockey sticks and other items described in a grand jury report as gifts to a victim were carried into the courthouse.
Amendola said his client was innocent and raised the prospect that Sandusky might testify. Acknowledging that Sandusky showered with children, he said Sandusky is "going to tell you it was routine."
He signaled that he would attack the credibility of the alleged victims. Because six have hired civil lawyers, Amendola suggested that they were seeking financial gain by bringing allegations against someone with close ties to a rich university.
"There are no victims in this case," he said. "The only time you can say there is a victim is when you determine beyond a reasonable doubt that Jerry Sandusky is guilty of something."
The trial began seven months after Sandusky's arrest in November.
It triggered a dizzying series of events, including the ouster of university president Graham Spanier and football coaching legend Joe Paterno, who died soon after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Neither Paterno nor Spanier was charged. Athletic director Tim Curley, now on leave, and retired senior vice president Gary Schultz were charged with lying to the grand jury about what they were told about a 2001 incident in the Penn State locker room showers.
Michael McQueary, an assistant football coach on administrative leave, has said he told the administrators he saw Sandusky engaging in sexual conduct with a boy, believed to be about 11, who has not been identified. They told the grand jury that McQueary's account did not describe sexual activity.
They have denied wrongdoing and are awaiting trial on charges of failing to report suspected abuse and lying to the grand jury.
Contributing: Gary Strauss in McLean, Va.