Joe Paterno knew of Jerry Sandusky abuse in 1976 per testimony in newly unsealed records
By Will Hobson and Cindy Boren July 12 at 9:34 AM
Former Penn State football players have called for the statue of Joe Paterno, which was taken down in 2012, to be re-erected. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A man testified in court in 2014 that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno ignored his complaints of a sexual assault committed by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in 1976 when the man was a 14-year-old boy, according to new court documents unsealed Tuesday in a Philadelphia court.
The victim, who was identified in court records as John Doe 150, said that while he was attending a football camp at Penn State, Sandusky touched him as he showered. Sandusky’s finger penetrated the boy’s rectum, Doe testified in court in 2014, and the victim asked to speak with Paterno about it. Doe testified that he specifically told Paterno that Sandusky had sexually assaulted him, and Paterno ignored it.
“Is it accurate that Coach Paterno quickly said to you, ‘I don’t want to hear about any of that kind of stuff, I have a football season to worry about?'” the man’s lawyer asked him in 2014.
“Specifically. Yes … I was shocked, disappointed, offended. I was insulted… I said, is that all you’re going to do? You’re not going to do anything else?”
Paterno, the man testified, just walked away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/j ... video.html
[Previously: Penn State payments cover Sandusky accusations from as early as 1971]
Collectively, the documents contain multiple allegations of incidents involving Sandusky acting improperly with young boys witnessed by or reported to several Penn State athletics officials over a 22-year time span before the first time someone notified law enforcement, in 1998. The documents stem from an insurance lawsuit over allegations that a boy told Paterno that Sandusky was abusing young boys. Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison after his conviction in 2012.
Ordered unsealed by Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Gary Glazer, the records contain a number of details about claims that Penn State football assistant coaches witnessed “inappropriate contact” and “sexual contact” between Sandusky and a child in 1987 and 1988. The timing of the incidents described in the testimony calls into question how it took so long for Sandusky’s rampant child abuse to come to light.
A man identified in court documents as John Doe 75 testified that, in 1987, when he was a 13-year-old boy, an assistant coach at Penn State witnessed Sandusky with his hand down the boy’s shorts and did nothing. The boy and Sandusky were alone in a coaches’ meeting room, and Sandusky was touching the boy, Doe testified, when assistant coach Joe Sarra walked into the meeting room. Startled, Sarra, immediately left and closed the door behind him, and Sandusky kissed the boy on his forehead, Doe 75 testified.
Sarra died in 2012.
A man identified as John Doe 101 testified in 2014 that knowledge of Sandusky consorting in questionable ways with young boys who were not his children was well-known within the Penn State football program.
In 1988, Doe 101 said, a weight room assistant named Kevin O’Dea saw the boy lying on a black leather couch in an athletics facility, in his underwear, with Sandusky seated on the floor rubbing the boy’s back.
“Did Mr. O’Dea say anything when he came in and saw that?,” his lawyer asked.
“No,” Doe 101 said.
O’Dea, who last coached with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday morning.
Doe 101 also testified it was well-known to the team and coaches that boys stayed in Sandusky’s room with him in the team hotel the night before home games in State College, and that he routinely showered with Sandusky and other coaches – including Paterno – and no one raised an eyebrow as Sandusky lathered up a boy who was not his son and engaging in “horseplay.”
“Would any of the other coaches bring young men back … and shower with them?,” his lawyer asked.
“Some of the coaches’ sons would come in and work out,” Doe 101 said. “But I don’t believe I ever saw any, just, coaches bringing random children in and showering with them.”
The family of Paterno, who died in January 2012, denied in a statement Tuesday that any coverup had taken place. It regarded the university’s $93 million payout to 32 victims as a step taken “without fully assessing the underlying facts” and “something that the University obviously felt they had to do to help resolve this matter.”
The Paternos said through their representative:
From the beginning, the Paterno family has been outspoken in their desire for the complete truth in the Sandusky tragedy. They have also repeatedly called for due process for all affected parties. With this latest release of information, the total mishandling of the Sandusky investigation is highlighted once again.
The overwhelming evidence confirms that Joe Paterno never engaged in a cover up of Jerry Sandusky’s crimes. Multiple independent parties have confirmed this conclusion. In fact, consistent with University rules, Joe reported an allegation about Sandusky to administration officials. As President Barron stated in his message to the University earlier today, an environment where faculty and staff feel protected in reporting wrongdoing is a key objective of the University.
The materials released today relating to Joe Paterno allege a conversation that occurred decades ago where all parties except the accuser are now dead. In addition, there are numerous specific elements of the accusations that defy all logic and have never been subjected to even the most basic objective examination. Most significantly, there is extensive evidence that stands in stark contrast to this claim.
That Penn State chose to settle claims without fully assessing the underlying facts is something that the University obviously felt they had to do to help resolve this matter. We understand their desire for closure, but it does not remotely validate the assertions about an uncorroborated conversation with Joe Paterno.
When the Sandusky scandal first became public in 2011, there was a lot of rhetoric in the media about using this case as a model to help prevent other child sex abuse scandals. Sadly, one of the lessons from the Sandusky tragedy is how not to investigate a crime of this type.
