To any who may have been doubting the guilt of Jerry Sandusky regarding the child sexual abuse charges leveled against him during his tenure at Penn State, a new witness has come forward to discuss abuse suffered at the hands of Jerry Sandusky: Sandusky’s own adopted son. Newser.com reports:
Matt Sandusky told prosecutors this week that Jerry molested him, his attorney says. It’s the first time Matt has made such allegations, though his biological mother testified before a grand jury last year regarding an unsettling relationship between her son and the former coach.
Matt Sandusky’s biological mother is on record saying that she believed Sandusky was “stalking” her son and talks about Matt and Jerry’s “rocky” relationship.
It seems to me that the best we can do at this point is hope and pray for healing for Sandusky’s victims. I also hope for a conviction that puts Sandusky out of the community for the rest of his life and that that offers survivors even just a little bit of peace of mind.
Beyond that, my sincere hope is that this nation will learn from this event and find new ways to support survivors of sexual assault, and to begin to take a more proactive role in stopping it. As we all know, there were suspicions and reports about Sandusky’s behavior with these young men for many many years. Perhaps those in power will begin to prioritize the lives of children before the careers of coaches and other people in power.
AP Photo/ Gene J Puskar
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What bothers me most about this case is the sinking feeling Sandusky is either going to be found not guilty or get off with a slap on the wrist. The former sheriff of Arapahoe County here in Colorado admitted to drugging a developmentally disabled young man and having sex with him (he had previously admitted to trading meth for sex with a variety of young men). His sentence? Thirty days. His dealer’s sentence? Three years. Enough is enough.
Laws are for little people.
Um, I assume you are expressing frustration and sarcasm at the situation?
Thomas, there are too many charges against Sandusky for him to walk away with a full acquittal. At best, he might walk away with a hung jury, but as we saw last night, there are more young men willing to come forward. The prosecutors can recharge Sandusky and then add more cases to their chief case. Or they could drop all those charges and simply go with Matt Sandusky. That would kill the money angle Sandusky’s attorneys argued in the current trial because he has not filed a civil suit.
Well observed Jacob.
I also suspect that Sandusky – Amendola are also fully aware of the risks. A Large Majority of people may have mistakenly seen this trial as being about Justice for the victims, but for Sandusky – Amendola it has only been about expressing power and control. For Sandusky it has been about continuing power over many people he has had for decades.
Abusers are always seeking control – even in the court room. Reminds me of the Courts martial over Abu Ghraib when the court was being manipulated and thankfully the judge grasped that – had the trail stopped, jury thrown out and restarted the whole lot over again. People still have not been able to grasp and understand what happened there.
That is one of the biggest problems in getting the Public to grasp what has been going on with Sandusky, how it was done, and for so long – because the motivation is power and not sex. It always has been. Power and control through sexual abuse.
I hope Mr S is found as guilty as possible – on as many counts as possible – and then sent down for as long as possible. I’m also fully aware that if he is found innocent, there will be uproar and further charges will come faster that people can imagine, with yet more victims coming forward. So many have stayed silent because they have believed justice will be done, even for them. If it isn’t – they will come out of the woodwork quicker than people could beieve.
… and then the power games will continue – and Amendola’s first gambit will be to claim it will simply never be possible for Sandusky to have a fair trail ever! … and I even fear that the courts will be obliged to agree and no trial would be allowed.
More power being expressed to continue the damage of the victims …. all of them, those who have come forward, those who will come forward and those who will never come forward.
The one thing that can’t be avoided now is that change will happen. The quicker the better.
Well said. I totally agree particularly with your last paragraph. When when parents, teachers and the community learn to educate kids so they have a voice and to provide them with the skills to speak up IF they are touched inappropriately. Sexual abuse prevention education will not harm a child in any way and explaining sex or the act of sexual abuse is NOT a part of sexual abuse prevention education . Safeguarding our kids will not hurt; it can only help!!!
Yeah Jayneen, seemingly, all of the conventional safety training is frequently spun into the pedo’s grooming methodology. Being truly ‘straight-up’ with kids is required! We are not doing anyone any favors by painting these fully abstract pictures of dangers for our kids.
We need: “this is what some men/women will do to get you.” “THIS is what they will do.” “THIS is how they make you think you want what they do.”
I agree, however, the reality is no-one wants to know. I can’t even say sexual abuse prevention education to parents . I have to say body safety. I went on a morning show re my kid’s picture book about keeping kids safe, in front o of 50,000 parents and sold only 50 books to help protect kids!The community doesn’t want to know. Even the host said, ‘Oh this topic makes me feel icky’ which didn’t help my point at all!
It’s a similar response when talking about having sex education for kids, full stop. Anything to do with sex, and you end up with parents saying they don’t want to have to think about it because it’s too difficult to talk to their kids about. Heck, I don’t know about now, but you used to have the same problem when it came to discussions of drug abuse too.
I think it’s this weird mentality that if you just don’t think about it or talk about it, it won’t happen.
I totally don’t understand it either. I just always talked to my kids about good and bad touch etc. It just wasn’t an issue with me. But then I don’t understand racism either!! And there are plenty out there who are racist!
I think the importance of this case is that it gives people a new vocabulary to talk about a taboo subject: Penn State, Joe Paterno, Sandusky….it’s somehow easier to say those words than pedophilia, anal rape, sexual predator…..
We need to all talk about it….instead of turning our heads away….Who else is being hurt right now? Who else are we ignoring? Who else are we not reporting?
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