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Jury Selection Starts In Penn State Abuse Scandal Lawsuit

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — Jury selection is underway in a lawsuit by a former Penn State assistant football coach who says he witnessed onetime fellow coach Jerry Sandusky abuse a boy in the team shower more than 15 years ago.

Mike McQueary claims in a defamation and whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State that he was wrongly retaliated against and terminated in 2012 after Sandusky was convicted of abusing 10 boys.

Jury selection began Monday, and opening statements are scheduled for next week.

McQueary has testified he happened upon Sandusky sexually abusing the boy one night in 2001. He reported it the next morning to then-head coach Joe Paterno.

Sandusky was a retiree with gym privileges back then.

Paterno's handling of the complaint contributed to his firing after Sandusky's 2011 arrest. Paterno died in 2012.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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