The investigation into Sandusky’s actions began in 2008, but accusations and eyewitness accounts date as far back as 1994. One victim, now 24, claimed that Sandusky showered with him and touched his genitals back in 2000. Around that same time, a campus janitor informed his supervisor that he had observed Sandusky performing oral sex on a young boy. Two years later, a graduate assistant told Coach Joe Paterno that he saw Sandusky in the locker room performing anal sex on a boy he estimated to be 10 years old. Paterno communicated this information to Athletic Director Tim Curley and Senior Vice President Gary Schultz, according to a grand jury report. Nothing was done. Curley and Schultz each face one count of felony perjury and failure to report abuse.
In 1997, Sandusky founded “The Second Mile,” a charity for helping troubled youth. Experts believe the operation served as a conduit for providing Sandusky access to young boys. But Penn State officials said they had never witnessed any suspicious behavior or red flags around Sandusky. They also denied that a university wide cover-up had occurred.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” one school administrator told reporters. “To me, it sounds like a lot of misinterpreted locker room hijinks. Look at former Representative Eric Massa. See how that got out of hand? Jerry was a stand up guy. He loved kids. He was always surrounded by little boys, starved for affection. He touched them in places their parents couldn’t. He took them to places they never would have gone on their own. He was even trying to raise money to bring The Second Mile kids on a trip to see Michael Jackson at his ranch for a sleepover weekend. That’s a special kind of love. I remember the day he retired from coaching. I saw him unpacking his locker, and there was a clown suit hanging in there. He looked at me sadly and said, ‘For the kids.’ He was always thinking about ways to please children. You know, at one point, Jerry even told me he wanted to do more with his life, more for society. So, he had contemplated becoming a priest or even a TSA agent. Those just aren’t jobs for icky people who want to grope children. Those are the aspirations of nobility.”
Interestingly, Sandusky may find an unexpected source of revenue to help foot his legal defense. In 2000, he authored an autobiography titled “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story.” Now, several of his alleged victims have also published a graphic memoir of their encounters called “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story.” Sandusky’s literary agent has filed a copyright infringement suit, which may net the former Penn State defensive coordinator a pretty penny -- a nickname Sandusky coincidentally gave his victims while sodomizing them.
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