Sandusky spends night in jail, accusers expected to testify

The former Penn State assistant football coach accused of molesting and sexually assaulting ten boys on and off campus spent his first night behind bars after his attorney was unable to post bail on Wednesday.

Centre County Correctional Facility Warden Ed DeSabato told 6News that Jerry Sandusky would be treated like every other inmate, which includes his own jail cell until the booking process is complete, which takes 48 to 72 hours to complete.

According to Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, court administrators are expected to decide if Sandusky’s property on Grandview Road will be accepted to cover the $250,000 straight cash bail, so Sandusky can be released for jail until his preliminary hearing next Tuesday.

Despite full cooperation with the investigation, Amendola told 6News that the Attorney General’s office did not notify him of the impending arrest.

“This is going to be all over the country again. We’re talking about a fair trial, and you’re going to see Jerry Sandusky in handcuffs on new charges? Jerry Sandusky would have turned himself in and we could have done this in a very civil way,” said Amendola. “I think it was very intentional. They could have called me, even this morning and said, ‘Look, we’re filing new charges, why don’t you meet us at Judge Hoffman’s office. We’ll meet you at a certain time and we’ll go from there.’ That would have been the simple way of doing this.”
 

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HARRISBURG, Pa. —

Agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Pennsylvania State Police filed new criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky on Wednesday as part of an ongoing grand jury investigation into allegations of sexual assaults on children.

Sandusky, 67, of State College, was arrested by agents from the Attorney General’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police. The former Penn State University assistant football coach was taken to jail after being unable to post $250,000 bail in cash after a brief court hearing.

“Today’s criminal charges were recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury, based on evidence and testimony that was received following the initial arrest of Sandusky on November 5th,” Attorney General Linda L. Kelly said in a news release. “At that time, Sandusky was charged with sexually assaulting eight victims, all of whom first encountered Sandusky as children through The Second Mile, a organization that he founded to operate programs for disadvantaged young people.”

– Sandusky Grand Jury Presentment (WARNING: Material is graphic)

Kelly said the latest criminal charges come following grand jury testimony from two additional young men, identified as Victim 9 and Victim 10, who were allegedly targeted by Sandusky when they were children.

“As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of ‘grooming’ victims,” Kelly said, in the release. “Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults.”

According to the grand jury, Victim 9 first encountered Sandusky around 2004, while participating in a summer camp organized by The Second Mile, when he was 11 or 12 years old. The grand jury alleges Sandusky approached the young man, engaged him in conversation and expressed an interest in spending more time with the child.

Kelly said Sandusky took the boy to numerous Penn State University football games and gave him gifts and money.

Later, the grand jury found that during overnight stays at Sandusky’s home, behavior such as hugging, rubbing, cuddling and tickling — initially viewed as acts of affection — escalated to sexual assaults. Additional sex acts were allegedly performed in the swimming pool and Jacuzzi of a hotel in the State College area, at times when the pool area was not occupied, according to the grand jury.

According to the presentment, Sandusky told Victim 9 that he loved and cared for him and urged him to keep their activities secret.

In the case of Victim 10, the boy was referred to The Second Mile in 1997, when he was 10 years old, at the recommendation of a counselor because of difficulties in his home life. Sandusky allegedly approached the boy during a summer camp and later made arrangements to take the boy to several Penn State Football games where the boy played football at Holuba Hall on the Penn State campus, attended “tailgate parties” prior to the game and spent time at the Sandusky home, the grand jury said.

According to the grand jury, “wrestling” sessions in the basement of Sandusky’s home eventually escalated to incidents where Sandusky performed oral sex on the boy. Victim 10 also detailed incidents that occurred at a swimming pool on the Penn State Campus, along with an encounter in a car when Sandusky allegedly exposed himself and requested oral sex from the boy, according to the grand jury.

The news release from the attorney general said, “As in other cases, Sandusky allegedly gave the boy gifts and frequently told the boy that he loved him.”

Sandusky is charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, all first-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 fines if convicted.

Additionally, he is charged with one count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of children, all third-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines if convicted.

Sandusky is also charged with one count of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors, all first-degree misdemeanors each punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 fines if convicted.

In the news release, Kelly thanked the Pennsylvania State Police for their continued cooperation and assistance with the ongoing investigation.

Kelly and the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner emphasized that this remains an active and ongoing investigation and stressed that any information or leads should be provided to the Attorney General’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police. Potential victims or others with information related to this case are asked to contact investigators from the Office of Attorney General at 814-863-1053 or Pennsylvania State Police at 814-470-2238.

“As in any other criminal investigation, we will continue to follow the evidence and facts wherever they lead,” Kelly said, adding that a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Sandusky was preliminarily arraigned before Senior Magisterial District Judge Robert E. Scott, from Westmoreland County, who has been assigned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to handle the matter.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. before Scott at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

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