Tuesday 12 June 2012

First witness in Sandusky trial gives graphic testimony

The first witness in Jerry Sandusky's trial said the former Penn State assistant football coach sexually abused him as a young teenager on campus and in hotel saunas and later sent him 'creepy love letters'.

The witness, dubbed Victim No. 4 by prosecutors, said what began as 'soap battles' in the shower escalated into inappropriate touching and oral sex and that Sandusky would threaten him if he refused.

The man, now 28, was the first of eight alleged victims expected to testify during the trial, which began Monday with opening statements.

Sandusky faces 52 criminal counts that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he has denied. His arrest and the fallout led to departures of longtime football coach Joe Paterno and the university president.


Day in court: Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the start of his molesetation trial
Day in court: Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the start of his molesetation trial
Graphic: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have threatened his 'victims' if they wouldn't perform oral sex on him
Graphic: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have threatened his 'victims' if they wouldn't perform oral sex on him

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III opened Sandusky's highly anticipated trial on Monday by telling jurors that the 68-year-old retired coach was a pedophile who took advantage of fatherless children or those with unstable home lives, plied them with gifts and sexually abused them for years.

Defense lawyer Joe Amendola countered that some of the alleged victims had hired civil lawyers and had a financial interest in pursuing the criminal case.

Sandusky sat still as the first witness explained that he began showering with the former assistant coach in 1997.

'He would put his hand on my leg, basically like I was his girlfriend...it freaked me out extremely bad. I pushed it away, after a little while, it would come right back. Basically every time I was in the car.That drove me nuts'


The man said he had met Sandusky through The Second Mile, the children's charity the assistant coach had founded.

The witness spoke calmly and firmly when questioned by McGettigan. Wearing a white shirt, dark tie and dark pants, he looked straight ahead at McGettigan during questioning. He gestured at times when asked to describe interactions with Sandusky.

'He would put his hand on my leg, basically like I was his girlfriend ... it freaked me out extremely bad,' the man said, extending his right arm out and pushing it back and forth.

'I pushed it away ... after a little while, it would come right back. Basically every time I was in the car.That drove me nuts,' he said.

Instances in the shower, the man testified, escalated to the point where either Sandusky maneuvered himself so his head would be near the boy's genitals, or vice versa.

The man testified that there were 'a few occasions' where Sandusky ejaculated in the Penn State locker room showers.

At least one time, the man said, the former coach attempted to penetrate him with a finger, and on another occasion, with his penis.

Pictures of Sandusky and the then-boy were shown at times on a video screen. The man was asked to identify photos handed to him by McGettigan, including those with Penn State football players, but rarely looked over when the pictures were displayed on a screen large enough for jurors to see.

The man said he stayed either at his mother's or grandmother's home at times. He never told his grandmother.

'No, no way. I was too scared to ... The other things were nice. I didn't want to lose that,' he testified, referring to the ball games, the trips and the status Sandusky bestowed on him. He even told the boy - who was only 98 pounds at the time - that he could get him a place on the team.

As well as the sexual contact, the witness also talked about 'weird things' Sandusky would do, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which included Sandusky massaging his stomach, or blowing on his stomach.

Sometimes, the man said, when he would stay at the coach's home or at a hotel on a trip, he woke up feeling like he had been touched, and Sandusky would be nearby.

A self-described college football fan, the man said he enjoyed the access to Penn State football games and facilities.

At one point, the man said, Sandusky let him wear the No. 11 uniform of LaVar Arrington. Prosecutors also showed a picture of the man, as a boy, with Arrington.

The man testified that Sandusky also took him to bowl trips including the Outback and Alamo bowls.

He also gave him golf clubs, snowboards, drum sets and various Penn state memorabilia including a watch from the Orange Bowl, the man testified. He said he would wear gift jerseys to school.

The man said that, as he got older and after he got a girlfriend, he was 'basically getting sick about what was happening to me.'

He testified to one alleged interaction before a bowl game banquet in Texas, in a hotel bathroom before taking a shower, that Sandusky pushed down on him in a 'downward motion.'


Prosecution: Joe McGettigan, seen arriving in court today, called Sandusky a 'predatory paedophile' during his opening statement
Prosecution: Joe McGettigan, seen arriving in court today, called Sandusky a 'predatory paedophile' during his opening statement

The man said he resisted, when he testified that Sandusky responded, 'You don't want to go back (home), do you?'

Asked by McGettigan to clarify, the man said 'that he was trying to get me to have oral sex, and threatening me if not.'

He said about ten seconds later, Sandusky's wife, Dottie, called out from another room, and that an apparently surprised Sandusky left the bathroom.

Sandusky also sent the man letters, the man testified. One shown briefly on a video screen in court was a handwritten on Penn State letterhead, signed 'Jerry'.

It said: 'I know that I have made my share of mistakes. However I hope that I will be able to say that I cared. There has been love in my heart.'

 



Another, that wasn't sent, said: 'We have known each other for almost two years; gone through many highs and lows. There was tremendous encouragement as we went through last summer and into the fall. You seemed like you had bought into everything, and were doing well.'

The man described some of the correspondence as 'creepy love letters ... Others would be 'Hey, do you want to come to a football game.' Those kinds of things.

Defense attorney Karl Rominger questioned the relevance of the letter, leading to a conference between the judge and attorneys at the bench. But questioning continued minutes later.

'We have known each other for almost two years; gone through many highs and lows. There was tremendous encouragement as we went through last summer and into the fall. You seemed like you had bought into everything, and were doing well'


Last week, the trial judge said the accusers couldn't testify under aliases. The Associated Press typically doesn't identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes.

During his opening statement, McGettigan told jurors he would prove that the abuse included oral and anal sex involving boys Sandusky met through The Second Mile and that it took place 'not over days, not over weeks, not even over months, but in some cases over years.'

McGettigan called The Second Mile, which Sandusky established in 1977, the 'perfect environment for the predatory pedophile' and his way to get close to his victims.

Amendola, Sandusky's lawyer, said the young men who would take the stand were accusers, not victims. He said jurors may find it odd that Sandusky showered with children, but that it was innocuous, and part of Sandusky's upbringing.

'In Jerry's culture, growing up in his generation, where he grew up, he's going to tell you it was routine for individuals to get showers together,' Amendola said. 'I suspect for those of you who might have been in athletics, it's routine.'

Amendola said the defense will argue that Mike McQueary, the football team assistant who reported seeing Sandusky naked in a shower in 2001, was mistaken about what he saw.

'We don't think Michael McQueary lied,' Amendola told jurors. 'Are you surprised? We don't think that he lied. What we think is that he saw something and made assumptions.'

Amendola also told jurors that at least six of the alleged victims have civil lawyers, including several in the courtroom gallery on Monday.

'These young men had a financial interest in this case and pursuing this case,' Amendola said.


On trial: Sandusky faces 52 counts of sexual abuse against 10 boys, and could get up to 500 years in prison if convicted
On trial: Sandusky faces 52 counts of sexual abuse against 10 boys, and could get up to 500 years in prison if convicted

In his opening statement, he told the seven women and five men of the jury that Sandusky, 68, was a naive man filled with love and affection for young people

'Jerry Sandusky, in my opinion, loves kids so much he does things that none of us would ever think of doing,' Amendola said.

Sandusky faces 52 counts of sexual abuse against 10 boys. If convicted, the former Pennsylvania State University football defensive coordinator could be sentenced to more than 500 years in prison.

The men, now aged 18 to 28, will be identified publicly for the first time in court.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III called Sandusky a 'predatory paedophile' and urged the jury to listen to his alleged victims in the case, now men, as though they were children.

'You will be hearing the voices of young men, but I ask you to bring insight... of how children react to things,' McGettigan said.

McGettigan also apologized in advance for what he said would be disturbing and graphic testimony, said he would prove that the abuse included oral and anal sex involving boys that took place 'not over days, not over weeks, not even over months, but in some cases over years.'

McGettigan added that he would press the witnesses for details in the lurid case only because the jurors' needed to hear them. 'I must ask, and they must answer,' McGettigan said.

Putting up pictures of eight of the 10 alleged victims on a courtroom screen, while occasionally jabbing a finger toward Sandusky, McGettigan told jurors that eight had remained silent until now out of humiliation, fear and shame.

As the prosecutor spoke, Sandusky sat silently, hunched forward with his back to the packed courtroom, as ceiling fans whirled overhead.


Accused: Sandusky, shown in a courtroom sketch today, claims he only horsed around with the boys he is accused of molesting
Accused: Sandusky, shown in a courtroom sketch today, claims he only horsed around with the boys he is accused of molesting

Amendola called his task of defending Sandusky a difficult one, given the resources of the state and a 'tidal wave' of negative publicity about the case.

'A DAUNTING TASK'

'This is a daunting task. This is like looking up at Mount Everest from the bottom of the hill, it's like David and Goliath,' he told jurors.

Amendola suggested Sandusky could take the witness stand, telling jurors that the former coach would tell them about his youth and how taking showers with other people had been common for people of his generation growing up in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Amendola also hinted that the accusers could be out for money, saying that six of the eight identified accusers had taken the step of retaining civil attorneys.

Secret: The Sandusky scandal prompted the firing of revered coach Joe Paterno, who died of lung cancer in January
Secret: The Sandusky scandal prompted the firing of revered coach Joe Paterno, who died of lung cancer in January

Prosecutors allege Sandusky had physical contact with the boys, known in court documents as Victims 1 to 10, that ranged from tickling and a 'soap battle' in Penn State showers to oral and anal sex.

The abuse charges shook the university and prompted the firing of revered football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier in November 2011.

Sandusky is accused of using the Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977, to prey on needy young boys. The charity said last month it was closing because contributions had dried up.

Victor Vieth, executive director of the National Child Protection Training Center, said Amendola would try to attack the accusers' credibility but would face a tough task.

The long gap between the alleged abuses and reporting them 'only adds to their credibility,' said Vieth, a former Minnesota prosecutor.

'This is not a fun day for them. Who wants to talk about having anal intercourse with a much older man?'

The allegations brought an ignominious end to the career of Paterno, who recorded more wins in major college football than any other coach.

He died of lung cancer in January, about two months after being fired. His widow Sue and son Jay may be called as witnesses for Sandusky.

The charges also marked a watershed in awareness of child sexual abuse. Sandusky was a well-respected children's champion and coach in college football.

Sandusky has laid out a potential defence, saying in an NBC television interview in November that he engaged in horseplay with alleged victims but stopped short of sexual intercourse or penetration.

Amendola has said one of his tactics will be to 'destroy' the credibility of former graduate football assistant Mike McQueary and thus raise questions about all the witnesses and victims.

Getting ready for trial: Sandusky was in unexpectedly good spirits when he walked into court for a pre-trial hearing last week
Getting ready for trial: Sandusky was in unexpectedly good spirits when he walked into court for a pre-trial hearing last week

McQueary, a key witness, told prosecutors he saw Sandusky assaulting a boy known as Victim 2 in February 2001 in a Penn State locker room.

Victim 2 and another boy, Victim 8, have not been found.

The trial has brought a flood of media to Bellefonte, a town of 6,200 people about 10 miles northeast of State College, the location of Penn State's main campus.

Eight of the 12 jurors, who were picked last week, have ties to Penn State, the largest employer in the area of small towns and farms.

But legal and jury experts said familiarity is no guarantee of sympathy for Sandusky and may hurt him if they blame him for tarnishing the university's image.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2157742/Jerry-Sandusky-trial-Prosecution-brands-ex-Penn-State-coach-predatory-paedophile.html#ixzz1xa5imQwV

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