Jerry Sandusky Child Molestation Allegations

Introduction

The indictment alleges that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky used The Second Mile — the charity he founded in 1977 — to get access to and molest boys, “many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations.” Eight children are listed as alleged victims, but not every one testified before the grand jury. In some cases, witnesses and information about incidents did not come forward for several years. Many of the alleged incidents happened in the Lasch Building, the football building on Penn State's campus (Abel, 90).

The incidents are alleged to have occurred both before and after Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999. The indictment alleges that Athletic Director Tim Curley and Penn State executive Gary Schultz ignored the report of one incident in 2002. They “banned” Sandusky from bringing Second Mile kids into the locker room after the report, but never enforced that ban, the charges say. Sandusky, as part of his retirement agreement, had a key to that building and often used it after-hours.

Findings Of Fact

The Grand Jury conducted an investigation into reported sexual assaults of minor male children by Gerald A. Sandusky ("Sandusky") over a period of years, both while Sandusky was a football coach for the Pennsylvania State University ("Penn State") football team and after he retired from coaching. Widely known as Jerry Sandusky, the subject of this investigation founded The Second Mile, a charity initially devoted to helping troubled young boys. It was within The Second Mile program that Sandusky found his victims.

Sandusky was employed by Penn State for 23 years as the defensive coordinator of its Division I collegiate football program. Sandusky played football for four years at Penn State and coached a total of 32 years. While coaching, Sandusky started "The Second Mile" in State College, Pennsylvania, in 1977. It began as a group foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys. It grew into a charity dedicated to helping children with absent or dysfunctional families. It is now a statewide, three region charity and Sandusky has been its primary fundraiser. 1 The Second Mile raises millions of dollars through fundraising appeals and special events. The mission of the program is to "help children who need additional support and would benefit from positive human interaction." Through The Second Mile, Sandusky had access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations (Wood, 149).

Victim 1

The Grand Jury conducted an investigation into the reported sexual assault of a minor child, Victim 1, by Sandusky, when Victim 1, a Second Mile participant, was a houseguest at Sandusky's residence in College Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. During the course of the multi-year investigation, the Grand Jury heard evidence that Sandusky indecently fondled Victim 1 on a number of occasions, performed oral sex on Victim 1 on a number of occasions and had Victim 1 perform oral sex on him on at least one occasion.

Victim 1 testified that he was 11 or 12 ...