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Witnesses testifying in the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky
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• Victim No. 4 testified from 1 p.m. until 4:45. He met Jerry Sandusky in 1997 at a Second Mile camp on Penn State's campus. They became friends, and he claimed that for a period of several years Mr. Sandusky sexually abused him. He also testified that the man bought him a variety of gifts.
• Marc Hamilton McCann testified at the end of the day for less than 10 minutes. He was an administrator at Second Mile and said that a contract Mr. Sandusky had the man known as Victim No. 4 sign was not a legitimate one from the charity.
• Victim No. 1 testified that Mr. Sandusky met him through the Second Mile summer camps he attended, growing close enough to go to Mr. Sandusky's house for sleepovers. After a time, he testified, Mr. Sandusky began sexually abusing him.
• Clinton County Children & Youth Services caseworker Jessica Dershem testified that she interviewed Mr. Sandusky with Mr. Amendola present. Mr. Sandusky admitted to blowing raspberries on the boy's stomach, cracking his back while he lay on top of him and kissing him on the forehead, she said.
• Victim No. 1's grandfather testified that he witnessed an argument between Victim No. 1 and Mr. Sandusky.
• Two employees from the Hilton Garden Inn in State College testified that Mr. Sandusky had permission to bring kids to the hotel's pool and gym.
• Former Penn State graduate assistant Mike McQueary told the jury that he "no doubt about it" saw Jerry Sandusky having what he believed to be anal sex with a young boy in the locker room showers.
Mr. McQueary described entering the building one Friday night in February 2001 and hearing the showers running and smacking sounds --"skin on skin smacking sounds. I immediately became alerted and embarrassed that I was walking in on something."
When Mr. McQueary said he opened his locker, in the reflection of the locker room mirror he saw the defendant standing behind a young boy "who is propped up against the shower. The boys hands are against the wall."
Mr. McQueary said he then turned to look with his own eyes and saw the same thing.
• Joseph Miller, the wrestling coach at Central Mountain School District, told the jury that one evening in 2006 or 2007 he returned to the school to pick something up and saw the light on in the weight room. Thinking a kid left it on, he went in to turn it off and saw Victim No. 1 and Mr. Sandusky lying face to face on their sides under a rock-climbing wall.
He testified that Mr. Sandusky quickly propped himself up on his elbow, and said, "Hey Coach, just showing him some wrestling moves."
Mr. Miller said as he drove away that night, he briefly wondered why they'd be working on wrestling in the weight room, not the wrestling room, but then dismissed it.
"I thought to myself, 'It's Jerry Sandusky. He's a saint. What he's doing with these kids is fantastic.' I quickly dismissed it from my mind. Jerry would never do anything inappropriate. I had the utmost respect for Jerry."
• Victim 5 was 10 years old when he met Mr. Sandusky. He testified that after years of outings he rebuffed the defendant in an attempted sexual encounter, then never saw him again.
• Victim 7 was also 10 years old when he met Mr. Sandusky. He received gifts and outings, he testified, and said he had indecent contact with the defendant on numerous occasions.
• Victim 10 came forward after the initial set of charges were filed and said Mr. Sandusky performed a sex act on him on one of his first visits to the defendant's house.
• Ronald Petrosky testified that a fellow custodian at Penn State told him he had witnessed a sex act between Mr. Sandusky and a young boy in a Penn State locker room shower.
• John McQueary is the father of Mike McQueary, the former graduate assistant who said he witnessed a sex act in a Penn State locker room shower. The senior McQueary did not remember his previous testimony in the case.
• Victim 6 testified during the morning that he continued his relationship with Mr. Sandusky until the summer of 2010, even after his mother complained to police in 1998 that Mr. Sandusky inappropriately showered with her son when he was 11 years old.
• Victim 3, now 25, testified in the morning that Mr. Sandusky made him feel that he was part of a family, and that when he was put in foster care he was upset because Mr. Sandusky never got in touch with him. He said he stayed over at Mr. Sandusky's home at least 50 times and that there were numerous instances of indecent contact.
• Anthony Sassano, an investigator with the state Attorney General's office, testified during the afternoon. He described the documents used to build a case against Mr. Sandusky, including lists of Second Mile kids with asterisks, photos of Second Mile participants and letters by Mr. Sandusky to Victim 1.
• Victim 9 testified that he was sexually abused by Mr. Sandusky starting when he was 12 in July 2005 and continuing to December 2008, when he 15. He said the molestation occurred at Mr. Sandusky's home, a State College hotel and elsewhere.
• Mother of "Victim 9," the final prosecution witness, testified in the morning that she was initially pleased when Mr. Sandusky introduced himself to her in 2005, when her son was in his second year in The Second Mile's summer camp program, and said he wanted to spend time with the boy. She said he began picking up her son and he spent weekends at the Sandusky family home. Once he called her late at night and asked to be picked up because he was sick. She found him at the curbside of the house, wearing no shoes. He later showed behavioral changes and starting expressing reluctance when he was supposed to spend time with Mr. Sandusky. The mother also noticed that there were no underwear in the boy's dirty laundry. She said he told her he'd had accidents and discarded the garments. He started "slacking" in his school work and become withdrawn. The mother said she never asked the boy what had happened, even after Mr. Sandusky was charged in other abuse cases, because she didn't want to know.
• Richard Anderson, former Penn State assistant football coach and the first witness for the defense, testified in the morning about the busy life of college football coaching staffs. Said he saw Mr. Sandusky showering with kids in the Second Mile program after athletic workouts and other activities but didn't think it was inappropriate. Said he showers with youngsters involved in YMCA programs. "Do it all the time. Still do," he testified.
• Clint Mettlar, testified that he was in The Second Mile programs as an 8- and 9-year-old. He's now 30, an Army vet who was deployed overseas. He uses a wheelchair but it was not clear how he was injured. He mentioned friends who think highly of Mr. Sandusky and said he stayed over at the Sandusky house about five times as a child, without incident. His appearance on the stand was very brief.
• Booker T. Brooks Jr., former Penn State assistant football coach, said in morning testimony that he joined staff about same time as Mr. Sandusky, left for several other jobs, returned to PSU. Said Mr. Sandusky had an exemplary reputation. Testified that he went on long scouting trips with Mr. Sandusky by car. "You get to know someone very well when you're alone in a car with them," he said. Also defended adults, kids showering together after youth athletic programs.
• Linda Caldwell, a Penn State employee, spent only moments on the stand and testified about a program called Community Links for L.I.F.E., a mentoring program that involved golf. She said it didn't work out and lasted only one semester, and verified a form that was introduced into evidence showing a referral to the program from the Second Mile. It was not at all clear what the significance of her testimony was.
• David Brent Pasquinelli, a self-described political consultant who helped Mr. Sandusky in an effort to raise $7 million for a campus for The Second Mile, testified in the early afternoon that he thought it a good cause. "Jerry was a local hero" for his work with children, he said. He worked in an office next to Mr. Sandusky's at The Second Mile headquarters in State College and said people admired Mr. Sandusky's ability to communicate with children.
• Brett Witmer, 2nd grade teacher in the Bellefonte Area School District, testified in the afternoon, and said during his previous involvement in youth programs he came to know the boy identified as Victim 4 and said Mr. Sandusky "seemed to be an important part of his life," and that the boy was excited by opportunities to interact with the Penn State football team.
• Megan Lynn Rash of Milesburg, who said her four years in The Second Mile summer programs were "amazing." She said she knew Victim 4 and that he had a reputation for "being untruthful."
• Joyce Porter of State College, who has known Mr. Sandusky for 40 years. "All the people I know who know Jerry think he's a wonderful man," she testified. He befriended a son of hers who has Downs syndrome. Ask him "who's the best" and the young man would reply "Jerr-EE!" she said.
• Phil Mohr of State College, a retired Penn State microbiology professor who has known Mr. Sandusky for 35 years. Another character witness.
• Jack Willenbrock of State College, a retired Penn State civil engineering professor. Said Mr. Sandusky is "a father figure" to his children and grandchildren and "he is also respected professionally." He said he is a Christian and that he and his wife "are not going to be the ones to judge what Jerry Sandusky did." Others, he said, knew better than to bring up the subject of the criminal charges in his presence.
• State police Cpl. Scott Rossman, who was a lead investigator in the case and was questioned by defense lawyers about whether he coached prospective accusers into making allegations against Mr. Sandusky. He defended his interrogation methods and said he did not tell them what to say.
• Retired state police Cpl. Joseph A. Leiter, another lead investigator who defense lawyers believe might have tainted would-be accusers by telling them what others had said about their experiences with Mr. Sandusky. He also denied trying to elicit anything but the truth from witnesses, acknowledging that they weren't always willing to tell their stories because of the trauma of being victimized. Tape recordings revealed that he told Victim 4 that nine other accusers had stepped forward with stories similar to his, and that allegations had been made that Mr. Sandusky had oral sex with accusers and that a rape had occurred.
• Lance Mehl of St. Clairsville, Ohio, former Penn State and NFL linebacker who played eight years for the New York Jets. A character witness.
• John Wetzler of Bellefonte, a retired teacher who has known Mr. Sandusky for 25 to 30 years. A character witness.
• Kelly Simco, a character witness.
• Benjamin Andreozzi of Harrisburg, an attorney who said he represents "victims of crime in civil cases" and is representing Victim 4. He dismissed as "speculative" a question from Mr. Amendola about whether a guilty verdict in the criminal case would be advantageous if he filed a civil lawsuit, saying he hasn't even discussed that with his client. Was heard on tape discussing with police whether telling his client about other victims would ease his reluctance to say what had happened to him.
• James Stanton Martin of State College, a doctor who won a national championship as a Penn State wrestler and was a friend of Mr. Sandusky. Said the defendant gave him a photo album upon his graduation with a handwritten poem and had found him to be "honest" and "caring." His testimony was intended to show that Mr. Sandusky, who is accused of luring youngsters in part by giving them gifts, gave gifts to many people.
• Elaine Steinbacher of North Carolina, who testified that Victim 4, long after the alleged abuse against him, contacted the Sanduskys and brought his girlfriend and their newborn to visit at the family home, where she and Mr. Sandusky's wife, Dorothy, fed them Kentucky Fried Chicken. The visit was "very amicable," she said, something that would seem unlikely if abuse had occurred. She is a 47-year friend of the Sanduskys.
• Mother of alleged Victim 1, from Lock Haven, who denied saying that she would become rich from civil lawsuits filed due to the alleged abuse of her son.
• Joshua Frabel of Lock Haven, who said the mother of Victim 1 bragged that she would own Mr. Sandusky's house or buy a house of her own with money damages from civil litigation against Mr. Sandusky.
• Elliot Atkins, psychologist, who testified as an expert witness for the defense that Mr. Sandusky has histrionic personality disorder, which made him crave attention and be overly emotional. His testimony was offered as explanation for what one witness called "creepy love letters" that Mr. Sandusky sent to some of the accusers. The judge and both sides agreed that the disorder was not offered as a defense of any other conduct by the defendant.
• Dorothy Sandusky, the defendant's wife, who testified that she never saw any inappropriate contact by her husband with children. She contradicted Victim 4's testimony that she had walked in on a sexual encounter between him and Mr. Sandusky in a bathroom area of a hotel room when Penn State was preparing to play in the Alamo Bowl game, saying what she happened upon was an argument over the youngster's attendance at a game-related luncheon. She corroborated Ms. Steinbacher's testimony about Victim 4's visit to the Sandusky house after the alleged abuse had occurred, also remembering that she and Ms. Steinbacher had purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken during the visit.
• Dr. John Sebastian O'Brien, who disagreed with Mr. Atkins' diagnosis that Mr. Sandusky had histrionic personality disorder. He said personality tests administered by the defense showed that Mr. Sandusky had misrepresented himself in answering the questions to make himself appear better, and that the letters he sent to accusers were not a function of the disorder but rather "highly manipulative" and intended to "sway their intentions."
• Dr. Jonathan Dranov of Boalsburg. He testified that he spoke with Mr. McQueary shortly after the February 2001 incident in the locker room and found him visibly shaken. But he said Mr. McQueary only reported hearing "sexual noises" coming from the shower and did not say he witnessed a sex assault.
• Henry Lesch, longtime executive at The Second Mile, of Boalsburg. He testified about defense exhibits that suggested that Mr. McQueary played in golf outings staged by the Sandusky-founded charity in 2001, just months after the locker room incident, and 2003.
• Chad Rexrode of Pittsburgh, a character witness for Mr. Sandusky.
• David Hilton of Lancaster County, a former participant in Second Mile programs. He said he was interviewed several times by state police investigating allegations of child molestation against Mr. Sandusky and thought they wanted him "to say something that wasn't true." On cross-examination he acknowledged that police never told him what to say. In the interviews, he told police that Mr. Sandusky had never behaved inappropriately toward him.
First Published June 20, 2012 8:34 am
