Prosecutors Say Claim Coaches Saw Sandusky Abuse Unreliable: Report

State prosecutors found unreliable the allegations that Penn State assistant coaches saw Jerry Sandusky have inappropriate or sexual contact with children in the 1980s, Solicitor General Bruce Castor told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

‘The reports turned out to be double and triple hearsay and of no value, with the coaches in question each denying they saw anything,’ Castor said to the AP. ‘So dead ends there all around.’

Those allegations came to light last week in a Philadelphia judge’s opinion attached to a court order in Penn State’s suit against its insurer over the payment of settlements to Sandusky victims. 

In addition to the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association Insurance claim that in 1976 a child allegedly told Penn State Coach Joe Paterno he had been molested by Sandusky, Judge Gary Glazer also wrote that PMA claimed, ‘[I]n 1987, a PSU Assistant Coach is alleged to have witnessed inappropriate contact between Sandusky and a child at a PSU facility; in 1988, another PSU Assistant Coach reportedly witnessed sexual contact between Sandusky and a child…’

No other details about any of the incidents were made available, and depositions in the case are under seal.

NBC News, citing anonymous sources, later reported that four other assistant coaches allegedly were aware of abuse by Sandusky. None of the coaches were named, and NBC did not know the name of one of the alleged coaches. Only one of the coaches, through his attorney, responded and he denied the allegation.

CNN also reported on a man who said in 1971 he told a man he believes to have been Paterno and another man identified only as ‘Jim’ in a phone call that he had been raped by Sandusky. He said Paterno told him to drop the accusation.

Castor told the AP that investigators were aware of the 1971 claim, but could find no related documentation from that time.

‘The victim in that case had a civil lawyer who asked us in 2014 not to interview him formally because of a pending lawsuit,’ Castor told the AP. ‘We abided by his wishes after determining that this victim’s information was too remote in time to be useful in our cases against the PSU administrators.’

Former Penn State president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley are still facing charges of failure to report suspected child abuse and child endangerment. Pennsylvania Superior Court in January quashed obstruction and conspiracy charges against the three as well as perjury charges against Spanier and Schultz. Last month, Attorney General Kathleen Kane accepted Castor’s opinion that her office should not further pursue having those charges reinstated.

Sandusky is appealing his 2012 conviction on 45 counts related to child sexual abuse. He has a hearing for post-conviction relief scheduled for May 20 in Centre County Court.