AG: Sandusky abused boys ages 8 to 17
Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach charged with sexually abusing boys, pauses while speaking to the media at the Centre County Courthouse after a bail conditions hearing, Feb. 10, 2012 in Bellefonte, Pa. / AP Photo/Alex Brandon
(AP) HARRISBURG, Pa. - Prosecutors claim Jerry Sandusky sexually abused boys ranging in age from 8 to 17, eight of whom were molested on the Penn State campus, according to a document with new details about the case filed Thursday.
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said in the document that crimes involving one of the 10 alleged victims took place in Florida and Texas, while another boy was abused at his own school.
Prosecutors were more specific in the document about the ages of the boys than in earlier reports, but much of the information is similar to details revealed in grand jury presentments issued last year that formed the basis for charges against the former Penn State assistant football coach.
Sandusky, 68, is confined to his home while he awaits trial on 52 criminal counts. He denies the allegations, and his lawyer said he did not think anything in the latest filing would change his defense strategy.
"We are continuing with the preparation of Jerry's defense with the goal of obtaining an acquittal on all the charges filed against him," attorney Joseph Amendola said in an email message Thursday.
The latest court filing states that two of the boys, identified as Victim 2 and Victim 8, remain unidentified to authorities.
The allegations involving Victim 2 are perhaps the most well known in the case. He was described by a grand jury report as a boy, about 10 years old, seen by a graduate assistant inside a football team shower with Sandusky in 2002. Prosecutors say the assistant, Mike McQueary, reported the incident to coach Joe Paterno and two university administrators, but police were never notified.
The apparent failure of Penn State officials to contact police contributed to the ouster of Paterno, school president Graham Spanier and charges against two school officials.
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The document said that so-called Victim 4 endured offenses that took place in Florida in December 1998 and January 1999, when Penn State was playing in the Outback Bowl; and in Texas in December 1999, when Sandusky's final game occurred in the Alamo Bowl. The filing does not specify the offenses.
The reference to other states comes less than a week after Penn State disclosed it received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg, indicating a federal investigation is under way.
A spokesman for the attorney general's office declined comment.
In most of the allegations in the latest document, which was produced at the request of Sandusky's lawyer, prosecutors said they could not provide specific dates, noting some crimes occurred over many years, and the alleged victims were children at the time.
Prosecutors said offenses happened from 1996 to 2009 and occurred at Sandusky's home, in State College hotels, at Penn State athletic facilities and inside a car.
On Wednesday, Judge John Cleland turned down Sandusky's request for a two-month delay that would have given them more time to prepare for trial. Cleland has tentatively scheduled trial to begin with jury selection on May 14.
Sandusky was arrested in early November, along with Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. Curley, now on leave, and Schultz, who has retired, were accused of failing to properly report suspected child abuse and lying to a grand jury investigating Sandusky.
Curley and Schultz have denied the allegations, and are waiting for a judge to rule on their requests to have charges dismissed.
Neither Spanier nor Paterno were charged with any crime.
Paterno died in January of lung cancer. Spanier remains a tenured faculty member.
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This could mean investigating exactly where federal grant money earmarked for specific purposes (medical research, defense) actually went to. There is a probe looking for evidence that trustees paid hush money to some of the victims and/or families. The NCAA is interested in finding out exactly what was the relationship Penn State had with Mr. Sandusky since 2002 when he was "retired". What did Shultz, Curley and Spanier (and even Gov. Corbett) know about possible bribes and payoffs and when did they know it. There are other questions that inquiring minds (or nosy busybodies - depending on your POV) in the DOJ want answered. The state has not covered any of that angle, simply contenting itself with the child abuse allegations.
I sense an awful lot of truly horrible stuff could surface if this new investigation is as thorough as it should be - even if it's biased in favor of the college. If the players so-far named and others yet to be named are as corrupt as I fear they might be, then Penn State, whose reputation is already in tatters, could be finished as a serious institution.
Even if they do find financial settlements, that is not necessarily illegal if the money came from donations or Penn State's endowment and not from government funds earmarked for specific purposes.
Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999, not 2002.
They really should investigate why the DA and the PA Dept.of Public Welfare did nothing in 1998 when Sandusky admitted to bear-hugging boys in the showers. That is a huge red flag that he was likely a child abuser.
Really? REALLY?? REVOKE HIS TENURE.