Convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, has filed a new appeal to his conviction, claiming “new evidence.”
That “new evidence” claims prosecutorial misconduct in the course of the 2012 trial that found Sandusky, 81, guilty on 45 counts of molesting young boys, WJAC reports.
The nearly 400 pages of exhibits and affidavits claim that prosecutors “coached” two of the eight boys who testified against him during the 10 day trial. Several other victims did not testify directly.
Reports of Sandusky’s abuse of young boys first surfaced in 1998, according to The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student newspaper, but those allegations were ultimately dropped under unusual circumstances. That eventually led to changes in how such investigations were handled.
Then, in 2011, following a two year grand jury investigation, Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of abusing boys from 1994 to 2009, the New York Times reported. The indictment alleged that he met his victims through The Second Mile, a charity working with underprivileged and at-risk youth, that he had founded in 1977. Four of those initial charges were dropped before trial.
The scandal disrupted the entire Penn State community, especially its football program, and led to the firing of legendary head coach Joe Paterno, who had failed to report allegations of his assistant’s misconduct.
The jury deliberated for 21 hours over two days before returning 45 guilty verdicts: eight counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, seven counts of indecent assault, one count of criminal intent to commit indecent assault, nine counts of unlawful contact with minors, 10 counts of corruption of miniors, and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of children, PBS reported. He was acquitted on three other charges.
Sandusky was sentenced to 60 years in prison and is eligible for parole in 2042.
In 2017, the former president of Penn State and two former administrators were sentenced to a few months in jail for not alerting authorities about a 2001 allegation against Sandusky, as CrimeOnline reported. Ex-president Graham Spanier got 4 to 12 months, with two behind bars and the rest under house arrest. Former athletic director Tim Curley received 7 to 23 months, with three months in jail, and ex-vice president Gary Schultz got 6 to 23 months, with two months in jail.
The judge in that case also criticized Paterno — who died in 2012, six months before Sandusky’s trial began — and who also did not alert authorities about the 2001 complaint.
That complaint was made by a graduate assistant who said he saw Sandusky in a team shower with a young boy, an allegation that eventually made its way into the indictment in 2012.
Penn State also agreed to pay more than $100 million in claims by at least 35 people who accused Sandusky of molesting them, The Associated Press reported.
Sandusky, who continues to assert his innocence, previously appealed his sentence in 2019, but a judge resentenced him to the same sentence — 30 to 60 years.
According to WJAC, Sandusky’s appeal discloses a medical condition that Sandusky says would have limited his physical activity. That claim says that he “suffered from extraordinarily low levels of testosterone.” It’s not clear why that claim was not made at trial 13 years ago.
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[Featured image: FILE- Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after attending a hearing on Nov. 22, 2019.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)]
