Accused Penn St. Coach Gives His Account: ‘I’m Not Sexually Attracted to Young Boys’
- Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:13am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
NEW YORK (AP) — The former Penn State assistant football coach at the heart of a massive sex scandal said he showered with young boys and hugged them but called the allegedly criminal contact “horseplay.”
Jerry Sandusky told NBC News’ “Rock Center” on Monday night that he was not a pedophile but, in retrospect, should not have showered with the boys he’s charged with sexually assaulting.
In an interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky, once considered the heir apparent to coaching legend Joe Paterno, proclaimed his innocence in the face of a series of startling allegations detailed in a grand jury report issued last week.
“I am innocent of those charges,” Sandusky said. “… I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.”
Sandusky is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year span, with some of the alleged crimes happening at Penn State, where he had access to campus as an emeritus professor following his 1999 retirement as Paterno’s top defensive assistant.
Asked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys, he said “sexually attracted, no. I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, but, no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”
Asked if there was anything he had done wrong, Sandusky said, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”
When pressed about how two people could claim to have witnessed Sandusky engaged in sexual contact with boys on two different occasions, Sandusky replied that “you’d have to ask” them.
The scandal has hit hard the community called Happy Valley, where “success with honor” is the motto. Paterno and University President Graham Spanier have lost their jobs and Athletic Director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz face perjury charges.
The interview with Costas was Sandusky’s first public comment on the charges. He had previously maintained his innocence through his attorney, Joe Amendola.
“We anticipate we’re going to have at least several of those kids come forward and say `This never happened. This is me. This is the allegation. It never occurred,’” Amendola said on the NBC broadcast.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The New York Times reported on its website late Monday that close to 10 additional suspected victims have come forward to authorities since Sandusky’s arrest, according to people close to the investigation. The paper said police were working to confirm the new allegations.
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly declined to comment on the interview, citing the active investigation.
Amendola earlier told CNN that his client was just behaving like “a jock.”
“Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid,” Amendola said. “He’s a jock, and for anybody who’s ever played sports, you get showers after you work out.”
Wide receivers coach Mike McQueary told a grand jury that in March 2001 when he was a graduate assistant, he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy about 10 years old in a shower at the Nittany Lions’ practice center. McQueary did not go to police but instead told Paterno, Curley and Schultz, although it is unclear how detailed a description he gave. Schultz, in turn, notified Spanier.
Sandusky told NBC there was no sexual contact.
“We were showering and horsing around, and he actually turned all the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor, and we were, as I recall, possibly like snapping a towel – horseplay,” he said.
Amendola accused the attorney general’s office of having “thrown everything they can throw up against the wall.” He said some of the allegations, such as putting a hand on a boy’s knee, do not constitute criminal conduct and other cases include no direct complaint by the boy.
“They have other people who are saying they saw something, but they don’t have actual people saying, `This is what Jerry did to me,’” Amendola said. “We’re working to find those people, and when the time comes, and if we are able to do that, we think this whole case will change dramatically.”
The Associated Press has made several efforts to reach Sandusky by phone and through Amendola, but messages haven’t been returned. The AP also knocked on Sandusky’s door and left messages at least three times over the past week.
When Sandusky retired in 1999, at just 55, he cited his desire to devote more time to The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk kids. According to the grand jury report, however, Sandusky was a sexual predator who used the charity and his Penn State connections to prey on young boys.
Though he was not particularly close with Paterno, he remained a familiar sight around the Penn State football complex. He was given an office in the East Area Locker building, across the street from the football building, as part of his retirement package, and would take Second Mile kids around the football facilities.
The Sandusky interview came on the day when it was announced the president of The Second Mile had resigned. Jack Raykovitz, a practicing psychologist who had led the group for 28 years, said he hoped his resignation, accepted Sunday, would help restore faith in the group’s mission. The Second Mile also announced it had hired Philadelphia’s former longtime district attorney Lynne Abraham as its new general counsel.
Separately, the Big Ten has decided to take Paterno’s name off its championship trophy. League commissioner Jim Delany said that it is “inappropriate” to keep Paterno’s name on the trophy that will be awarded Dec. 3 to the winner of the conference’s first title game.
The trophy had been named the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy. Paterno had more wins, 409, than any other major college coach while football pioneer Amos Alonzo Stagg won 319 games in 57 years at the University of Chicago.
The trophy will now be called the Stagg Championship Trophy.
Popular Stories
MSNBC Host Snaps in Heated Segment: ‘What in the World Is Riskier Than Being a Poor Person in America?’ 680 Comments
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 639 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 523 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 360 Comments
Have You Seen the Giant ‘Sand Obama’ Sculpture in Charlotte? 312 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 144 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 186 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 146 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Scathing New Ad Capitalizes on Rep. Ryan‘s ’Fading Obama Posters’ Remark 124 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 144 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (104)
Bakko Bomma
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:20amLast week Sandusky met with his priest — not for spiritual advice, they went on a double date.
Report Post »hud
Posted on November 17, 2011 at 6:24pmHow crazy or stupid must this guy be to do this act in a public restroom on campus?
Report Post »Your Name Here
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:17amThis guy sounds just like Eric Massa.
Report Post »“He swings both ways, men and boys.”
turkey13
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:32amThat’s good he likes men – in prison his room mate will be Big – Big – Big John. His lawyer that came up with this lie should be in with them and make it a threesome!
Report Post »jkjk
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:49amThey should execute him.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:26amFirst of all, with a rep. like he has, he’s in denial. Second if he isn‘t attracted to the boys he’s doing then the only other reason would be to hurt them. Both are criminal IMHBLO. But I’m no OWS fan, either.
Report Post »mils
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:35amI do not believe the grand jury would have acted without positive proof.
Sandusky was painful to listen to in the interview with Bob C…an emphatic “no” was not forthcoming …
I’ve read some reports of people saying there is something wrong with all his…and Sandusky couldn’t have done these things…the only thing wrong is PENN STATE STUDENTS STADING WITH THIS DISGUSTING TEAM OF MEN!
Sandusky’s attorney said that the first young man mentioned is now grown and has denied any of this happened…I find htis difficult to believe…unless Penn gave him $$$ to “dis remember”…stupid people..
.Sandusky ,Paterno, president etc…are only sorry and distraught because they got caught.
Look at the grand jury report…then decide folks…don’t listen to the Penn students. Maybe one day they will all have children…and find that a coach has boinked one of them…how will they feel then/
Some one asked if they were Muslims or priests. Because it could be a religious prefernece thing..hahahaha OH GROW UP
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 12:11pm.
Accused Penn St. Coach Gives His Account: ‘I’m Not Sexually Attracted to Young Boys’
I was just checking to see if I was……………
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:03pmIsn’t that EXACTLY what Michael Jackson said. Hmmmmmm
Report Post »JRook
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:37pmThe Blaze referencing a story on the The NY Post regarding the lawyer really shows the lack of any class or journalistic integrity. You really want to considered in the same discussion as the NY Post.
Report Post »johnannegalt
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:16pmCovering up the rape of little boys(or anyone) is pretty malicious. http://markamerica.com/2011/11/10/how-could-they-cover-up-the-rape-of-children/
Report Post »motonutt
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:38pmWhat I want to know is where is LIBERAL MARINE telling us about all the virtues of homosexuality on this sad but true story? And for you Pedophile State fans that think it’s o.k. to look the other way while children are being sodomized, as long as it doesn’t affect your football team, should be ashamed of yourselves.
Report Post »PassTheAmmo
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 6:31pmSure, a grown man engaging in naked ‘horseplay’ in a shower with a young boy. HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!!
Report Post »B-Neil
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:16amI’ve told some zingers in my day, this guy is good. Really really good. If we don’t get him, God sure as hell will. Why is the News Media even entertaining this guy? Theres more to life then making money or a reputation off an admitted pedifile. Sliding across the floor my a-s. CARRY ON McDUFF
Report Post »Summerafternoon65
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:08amJust sick… Lock him up… and throw away the key!!! Sick…
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:53amThis sick freak sounds just like Michael Jackson. I hope he ends up the same way.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:13amRich… Idolized… and Not Guilty?
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:21pmI hope you are not referring to Michael Jackson not being guilty. he was never prosecuted because he paid millions of dollars to shut people up. That is NOT what a innocent man does. You can go on thinking what you want. Obama needs supporters to.
Report Post »junkmaninohio
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:46amFootball and the money it brings in to Penn State is more important than protecting kids. You Penn State bas***ds are sick.
Report Post »junkmaninohio
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:43amThis monster should be locked away for life. Penn State should have to pay enormous sums of money for sweeping this under the rug. That school believes football is more important than protecting children. Shut it down.
Report Post »netmail
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:06amAnd this should be expedited immediately. One of the saddest aspects of this case is that it is going to drag on and on forever. It should all be out in the open and settled in 30 days, but 30 months is probably more like it.
Report Post »NealPatrick
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:38amNo adult male showers with boys. That alone is a big red flag that something is wrong, It’s that simple. Lie all you want Sandusky but you know what you have been doing for decades and gotten away with it.
Report Post »your sensei
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:31amLoos like Dennis Hastert will be resigning again any day now.
Report Post »TeaPartyGoth97
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:29amSo who do we believe? The kids who couldn’t make this stuff up if they tried, or the creepy gym teacher?
Report Post »Personally, I believe the kids.
Lloyd Drako
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 12:18pmThe unfounded accusations of “Satanic ritual abuse” from the ’80s should have taught us that always “believing the child” can lead to serious miscarriages of justice. In this case, however, most of the boys in question are now men in their 20s. I heard one of them interviewed who said Sandusky’s touching him on the leg made him “uncomfortable,” but so far as I know, none has come forward to confirm sexual abuse. Eventually, others will be identified and come forward; Sandusky’s Second Mile must have put him in contact with thousands of boys over the past 30 years. But after last week’s ritual burning, perhaps it’s time to step back and remember the principle of “innocent til proven guilty.”
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:51pmLloyd Drako I am sorry you feel this way, as you always need to assume the worse when children are involved and then prove otherwise. This topic just came up on Dr. Phil. The Grandmother said that her granddaughter told her she was touched by her dad. The account given by the Grandmother used terms a child would not use at her age; thus Dr. Phil had suspicions the grandmother’s hatred was tainting her perceptions. The dad denied the allegations, the mother of the child said she had no reason to believe that her ex-husband who moved on to a new girlfriend would do anything like this. However, Dr. Phil had to take the allegations seriously and protect the child at all cost and prove the allegations either true or false. The Grandmother and the father both took polygraphs from a renown FBI polygraph expert. Turns out the grandmother’s answers were deceitful and the father was truthful. The bottom line you assume they are guilty and then prove otherwise when it comes to sexual abuse of a child.
Report Post »Lloyd Drako
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:39pmCofemale: Children are very susceptible to subtle suggestions by a skilled interrogator. This doesn’t mean that their testimony is never to be believed, but it does mean that stringent cautions and safeguards are in order in cases like this. Sandusky’s “2nd Mile” program as I understand it goes back to 1977, which means that if he is guilty of sexual abuse, at some point an adult survivor is almost sure to come forward and testify to that effect. I would be inclined to believe such testimony, particularly if multiple adult witnesses provide it, than the testimony of children recently enrolled in the program, which would surely be colored by the furor and pressures currently surrounding this story.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:37pmThe difference is that there were never any actual alleged victims alleging they were the subject of “satanic cult rituals”. All those stories were simply the product of overimaginative paranoid media hype. Just like all the stories in the early to mid eighties about how “Dungeons and Dragons” roleplaying groups were the new boogeyman that were turning all our kids into murderous scorcery worshiping cults.
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:16amWe have lost our souls
Report Post »I pray for this nation of liberal hedonism.
biohazard23
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:04amIf McQueary witnessed a young boy being sodomized, WTH DIDN’T HE STOP IT????? How could ANYONE in their right mind WALK AWAY while a child is being raped???? How could he not run to that child’s rescue? And why didn’t he go to the police like any other law-abiding person would do without hesitation???
As for “lack of common sense” as well as “being a jock” currently floated as an excuse for Sandusky’s behavior, that bottom-feeding attorney should be ashamed of himself for trying to equate this to “typical” locker room antics, whatever THAT is. I mean, since when did rape become something that jocks with no common sense usually do in locker room showers???
Something’s rotten in Denmark, kids, and this is going to get sooooooooo much worse before it’s all over.
Report Post »MONICNE
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:44amYour argument actually points out how outrageous the accusations are. Obviously the man is innocent, or else the accuser would have physically attempted to stop the rape, then would have called the police, and we would have actual evidence of assault.
TEA
Report Post »Texas_Tip
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:55amMonicne,
There’s no question that within the Penn State community people were scared of Jerry Sandusky. Scared of his stature. Scared to the point that several school administrators and at least one school janitorial employee admitted to turning a blind eye in the rape of children by a predator who additionally set up a “charity” to feed his perversions. And certainly scared to confront the political correctness and “Laissez faire” attitude in which sexual predators of all persuasions find the opportunity to destroy our young people.
The mentalities of just don’t bring it up or be labeled a bigot. Just don’t bring it up or face a boycott. Just don’t bring it up or be fired. So just don’t bring it up period should be considered unacceptable. What we are seeing at Penn State is the inevitable results of such inaction against aggressive homosexuality that resulted in pedophilia. That evil triumphs when good men do nothing is not just a catchy cliché or blog signature line. It’s as real as Jerry Sandusky.
Texas_Tip
Report Post »Mattevan
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:02amFrom Penn State to penitentiaries….Good job you fool and just be glad it wasn’t my boy you did that with….your lucky…now pratice picking up soap…lol
Report Post »itex
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:55amShowering with a 10yr old boy at 930 at hight In a deserted locker room. Nothing to see here, oh wait, was that Mike BeQueath peaking around the corner?
Report Post »itex
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:00amI hate auto correction . That’s 930 at night and Mike McQueary.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:54amThe White… Michael Jackson!
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:05pmMichael Jackson was white
Report Post »65Mustang
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:52amThis man is a POS. I am not a football fan and don’t care what happens to the powers-that-be at Penn State. Justice should be served.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:05amI am a huge College Football fan, and I agree with you. Justice MUST be served. If it means shutting down the Penn State football Program, I say go for it. When something this vile can can be allowed to go on such a large public institution dramatic and drastic measures needs to happen, and happen immediately.
The fact that the PSU Administration and it’s headcoach had to know this was going on is reason enough to bring the entire institution up on charges. Paterno gave this dirtbag an office after knowing all about Sandusky’s perverse nature, thus facilitating a child rape scandal that is worse than any in US history.
Report Post »JimL
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:15amSee today’s Centre Daily Times Coverage, http://www.centredaily.com/2011/11/15/2986864/3-million-state-grant-put-on-hold.html
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:31amJIML
It’s the right thing to do. The Second Mile has betrayed trust.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:45amYo Mustang:
Report Post »I agree with the justice being served part. The people commenting here sure are not the ones to do that. No facts no nothing but allogations and everybody wants to string the guy up. I find this rush to JUDGEMENT almost as sad. I do not know what kind of lives others have lived but I have come across all kind of liers and decievers and it has made me wiser. People lie for all kinds of reasons. I have seen teenagers shoot teenagers because somebody said somebody said somebody said. Let some facts come out and if PROVEN guilty, give me a gun and put me in the firing squad. I hope he is innocent for many reasons. One being the rush to judgement….. maybe it will cause many people to slow down and take a breath and take a look at who THEY ARE.
samnjoeysgrama
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:49amOK, I need to go pray. Not for this creep, but for those little boys and for myself! I have never been so filled with hate as I am when I read about this monster. How anyone could have walked in on this and not beaten him to a bloody pulp on the spot is beyond me.
Report Post »hi
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:48amThe libs support Nambla and think man- boy love is normal.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:06amI don’t know a single person, liberal or otherwise, who would defend pedophilia. To suggest liberals would support this is heinous in and of itself. They have plenty of real shortcomings, no need to lie to make them seem worse.
As far as Sandusky’s statement…. I just don‘t see any grown man taking showers with other people’s kids. As one previous poster put it… my BS meter is reading off the scale here.
Report Post »hi
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 10:22amThe ACLU protects Nambla. ACLU is a lib organization. Wake up and realize what your Marxist buddies support. The lib judges also supported virtual child porn even though it takes real kids and turns them into cartoonish
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 11:20amDr Frost NAMLA’s membership list should be published. The ACLU defends NAMBLA as well as championing all liberal agendas. Don’t like it? Change it.
Report Post »Joyzee
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:46amState Penn Showers for creepo!..
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:44amYou’ll enjoy showering with men even better..in jail..you sick freak
Report Post »thegrassroots
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:43amSo Sandusky says … while more and more of his victims are stepping up. God Bless Them As They Bring This Monster Down!
As old as Sandusky is, the number of his victims could span over a half a century. Those who knew and didn’t stop him are as guilty as he is.
Report Post »Crazyotto
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:22amI agree … he started Second Mile in 1977 … somewhere along the line he started making his moves on little boys.. it could go back to then or even earlier…he has played for and worked for Paterno since 1963…when Paterno was an assistant at Penn.. you think Joe would have seen something creepy in this guy…
Report Post »roxy
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:41amInmates will give Jerry something to think about.
Report Post »Continental Patriot
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:35amSandusky is playing the cover-up game now; “it’s not as bad as it looks”. The mere fact that he’s admitting showering with children this young is more than enough to put him away, and considering his age probably for the rest of his life. It is the same as indecent exposure; children that age are not to be seeing someone HIS age nude. Period. And the horseplay? Please!
Report Post »roxy
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:29amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe6ykE3VyiU
Penn State coach had a history of covering things up?
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:19amAsked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys, he said “sexually attracted, no. I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, but, no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.” <<< This is a YES answer.. If I was asked that question I would have said HELL NO , WHAT ARE YOU A FOOL ? But he gives this detailed answer so to me it means yes I am..
Report Post »ILmommy5
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 9:36amExactly. Ask any normal man if they’re attracted to little boys and the answer would be a resounding
Report Post »NO WAY, with a shudder of disgust.