New accuser in Penn State sex-abuse case
Man alleges former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky abused him “over 100 times” in the 1990s.
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| Sandusky is accused of abusing nine young boys during more than a decade [Reuters] |
An unidentified man in the US has filed a case against Jerry Sandusky, accusing the former Penn State assistant football coach of sexually abusing him “over 100 times” as a boy.
Wednesday’s case, the first to be filed against Sandusky since he and Penn State University were engulfed in a major sex-abuse scandal, named the former football coach, the university and The Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky, as defendants.
The 29-year-old plaintiff, identified only as “John Doe A”, made the new accusations against Sandusky in a handwritten note accompanying the petition.
He became the ninth person to accuse Sandusky of abuse.
In his petition, the man said the alleged abuse took place from 1992 to 1996 “in the facilities of Penn State, particularly the football coach’s locker room, at times within Philadelphia County, at facilities out of state connected with a Penn State bowl game and at the Sandusky home”.
It began when he was 10 years old and after he met Sandusky through a programme at The Second Mile, according to the man’s attorney Jeff Anderson.
Sandusky “recruited, groomed and coerced plaintiff, showering him with gifts, travel and privileges”, according to the lawsuit, which legal experts said may trigger a cascade of other cases and new accusations by other alleged victims.
‘Belongs behind bars’
The petition said Sandusky threatened the alleged victim and his family, leading to years of silence.
“I never told anybody what he did to me over 100 times at all kinds of places until the newspapers reported that he had abused other kids and the people at Penn State and Second Mile didn’t do the things they should have to protect me and the other kids,” wrote the man, who does not live in Pennsylvania.
The plaintiff feels Sandusky, who is free on $100,000 bail, should be confined immediately, Anderson said. “I have no
doubt, and John Doe has no doubt, as long as he is out on the street he can hurt other kids. He belongs behind bars.”
On November 5, Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sex crimes involving eight boys over more than a decade. He has denied all of the charges.
The Second Mile, which helps troubled youth, said it would review the case.
The scandal has led to the firing of Penn State’s revered football coach Joe Paterno and the university president.
Two former university officials have been charged with not reporting an alleged 2002 rape by Sandusky. They have also professed their innocence.
President’s pledge
After a forum convened for university students to discuss the alleged abuse, Penn State’s new president said the university would raise the visibility of ethics “to a new level”.
Rod Erickson said at the town hall forum on Wednesday he hopes everyone at the university understands “we learn to do the right thing the first time, every time”.
In the wake of the scandal, sexual abuse allegations have been made against an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University, Bernie Fine, who was fired from his job on Sunday.
Three men have accused Fine of sexually fondling them when they were juveniles.
Unlike Penn State, no charges have been filed against the former Syracuse assistant coach, and a grand jury is looking into the accusations.
A law-enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that federal agents had searched
Fine’s former university athletic office.