Close to 10 additional suspected victims have come forward to the authorities since the arrest of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on Nov. 5 on 40 counts of sexually abusing young boys, according to people close to the investigation. The police are working to confirm the new allegations.
The news about the additional accusations came on the same day that Sandusky made his first extended public comments since his arrest and that the resignation of the chief executive of the Second Mile foundation, the charity founded by Sandusky, was made public. They were the latest developments in a case that has led to the ouster of several top university officials, including the football coach, Joe Paterno, and the president, Graham B. Spanier.
In a phone interview with Bob Costas that was broadcast Monday night on NBC’s Rock Center, Sandusky said he is innocent of the charges against him and declared that he is not a pedophile. He did acknowledge, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.
“I could say that I have done some of those things,” he said of the accusations against him. “I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact.”
He added: “I enjoy being around children. I enjoy their enthusiasm. I just have a good time with them.”
For many years, that enthusiasm took public form in his work with Second Mile, a charity to benefit needy children that Sandusky started in 1977. On Sunday, Jack Raykovitz, the chief executive of the foundation for 28 years, resigned. Raykovitz’s failure to do more to stop Sandusky has been a focal point of criticism.
The Pennsylvania attorney general has said that Sandusky used Second Mile to prey on young boys and that he met each of the eight boys mentioned in the grand jury report through the foundation.
Raykovitz was reportedly informed by Penn State athletic director Tim Curley about a 2002 assault in which Sandusky is suspected of raping a young boy in a shower at Penn State’s football facility. Curley also advised Raykovitz that Sandusky was prohibited from bringing children onto the university’s campus from that point.
Sandusky resigned from daily involvement with Second Mile last fall, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Raykovitz, a licensed psychologist, said in a statement last week that Penn State officials had told him only that the graduate assistant who witnessed the attack was “uncomfortable” with seeing a young boy shower with Sandusky. That graduate assistant has since been identified as a current Penn State assistant, Mike McQueary, who has been placed on leave.
“I hope that my resignation brings with it the beginning of that restoration of faith in the community of volunteers and staff that, along with the children and families we serve, are the Second Mile,” Raykovitz said in a statement released by Second Mile.
In announcing Raykovitz’s resignation, which was accepted Sunday, Second Mile also said that it will conduct an internal investigation to assess its policies, procedures and processes, and to make recommendations regarding future operations.
Raykovitz made $132,923 from Second Mile during the calendar year that ended Aug. 31, 2010, according to its tax forms.
At Penn State, in addition to the firings of Paterno and Spanier, the scandal led Curley and Gary Schultz, the vice president for finance and business, to step down last week. Both men have been charged with perjury and failure to report to the authorities what they knew about the allegations involving Sandusky, Penn State’s defensive coordinator from 1977 to 1999.
Also Monday, the Big Ten announced that Paterno’s name would be removed from its championship trophy for football. It will now be called the Stagg Championship Trophy, after Amos Alonzo Stagg.
St. Petersburg Times
