Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, 67, once thought to be heir apparent to coach Joe Paterno, was arrested Saturday on charges of sexually molesting eight young boys. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sandusky was charged with 40 counts and released on $100,000 bail. Two other Penn State officials, Tim Curly, the school’s athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the school's vice president for finance and business, also face charges of perjury and failing to report what they knew about the allegations.
Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, said his client has known about the allegation for three years and “has maintained his innocence.”
In one incident, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said that “in 2002 a graduate assistant saw Mr. Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, estimated to be about 10 years old, in the locker room of the Lasch Football Building on campus. The grad student and his father reported what he saw to Mr. Paterno, who immediately told Mr. Curley, prosecutors said.
“Messrs. Curley and Schultz met with the graduate assistant about a week and a half later, Kelly said. Nothing happened.”
Sandusky founded a charity in 1977 for at-risk children with which he continues to work, though he retired from coaching in 1999. He was charged with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor, as well as single counts of aggravated indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.