The latest person to accuse former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse also claims that Sandusky threatened to hurt the boy’s family if he ever told anyone about the abuse.
Sandusky’s newest accuser, who is now 29, had not told anyone about the abuse until he read about the grand jury presentment charging Sandusky with 40 counts of child molestation over 15 years, his lawyer Jeff Anderson said today. Until that time, he had thought he was the only victim.
The man, whose identity was not released, issued a statement that said, ”I don’t want other kids to be abused by Jerry Sandusky or anybody like Penn State to allow people like him to do it–rape kids! 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.”
“I am hurting and have been for a long time because of what happened, but feel now even more tormented that I have learned of so many other kids were abused after me,” he said.
Anderson said the boy met Sandusky through the Second Mile foundation when the alleged victim was 10, and was abused by Sandusky from 1992 to 1994. He said that Sandusky threatened to harm the boy’s family if the boy told anyone about the abuse. Sandusky also paid for sports camps, plied the boy with gifts, and took him on trips, Anderson said.
The lawyer said during a press conference today that they had filed suit against Sandusky, Penn State and the Second Mile charity seeking reparations for over 100 acts of sexual abuse.
Anderson alleged that Sandusky had abused the boy at Penn State University, at Second Mile events, at his home, at a Penn State bowl game out of state, and in Philadelphia.
The victim notified law enforcement authorities on Tuesday, Anderson said.
The lawsuit alleges child abuse, negligence, emotional distress, and conspiracy to endanger a child, among other charges. It was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common please and seeks a jury trial.
“How can it be that (Sandusky) was allowed to be such a peril to so many kids for so long?” Anderson asked. “It is because those among him, when they saw the signs or heard the signals, refused to see, hear or act because they thought more of the institution and trusted him blindly, in a way that made the kids suffer enormously.”
Anderson, a Minnesota attorney who specializes in child sex abuse cases, said he believed Sandusky had hundreds of victims, and blamed Penn State and Second Mile officials for looking the other way when clear signs of Sandusky’s abuse were evident, including a 1998 investigation into Sandusky showering with a boy on Penn State’s campus.
The Second Mile said saying it would review the complaint and adhere to its legal responsibilities throughout the process.
“As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” the statement said.
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