New suit alleging sex abuse filed against former Penn State coach

By David DeKok HARRISBURG Pa. (Reuters) - An 18-year-old youth who says he was molested several times about six years ago by now-convicted sex offender Jerry Sandusky has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the former Penn State assistant football coach. The plaintiff, identified only as D.F, is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, plus punitive damages, from Sandusky, his former charity and Pennsylvania State University, according to the complaint. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 26 in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, but became known only Wednesday. Bret Southard, lawyer for the plaintiff, said his client was not one of the 10 boys involved in the criminal case against Sandusky in June 2012, although he was interviewed by the Pennsylvania State Police that April. "It is my understanding that the attorney general is still considering bringing another set of criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky, and my client would be part of that,” Southard said Thursday. Renee Martin, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, responded that, "I couldn't comment on that" in response to Southard's statement about the possibility of additional criminal charges against Sandusky. The complaint says that D.F. met Sandusky at age 8 at an event sponsored by The Second Mile, a charity the coach created in 1977 to help boys from troubled families. On Aug. 30, 2008, according to the lawsuit, Sandusky took D.F., by then 12 years old, to the Penn State-Coastal Carolina football game, but left in the third quarter because it was a “blow-out” for the Nittany Lions. “Defendant Sandusky took [D.F.] to his residence and forcibly undressed [him] and sodomized him,” the complaint states. The Second Mile and Penn State University are accused in the lawsuit of negligently allowing Sandusky to commit crimes against D.F. Sandusky, who was defensive coordinator at Penn State for Joe Paterno until 1999, still had special access to university facilities after he left his job. Sandusky was convicted of 45 sexual offenses in the 2012 trial and is serving 30 to 60 years in state prison. Alexander Lindsay, the lawyer who is representing Sandusky on post-conviction appeals, said he will not be representing him in this civil suit. It was not immediately known who would represent Sandusky. Lisa Powers, spokeswoman for Penn State, said the university does not comment on litigation. Dave Woodle, the current CEO of the largely defunct Second Mile charity, told the Centre Daily Times that he is expecting to be served with a copy of the lawsuit. (Editing By Frank McGurty, Andrew Hay and Bernard Orr)