Prosecution Rests In Jerry Sandusky Trial
Monday, June 18, 2012
The prosecution presented its last witness today in the trial against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The New York Times reports the witness was the mother of one of the eight boys who accused Sandusky of sexually abusing him.
"Despite the boy's objections, the mother said, she urged her son to spend time with Sandusky because the boy had no father at home and she was working two jobs at the time," the Times reports. "During the time the boy, then in his early teens, was with Sandusky, he developed a host of problems, including stomach pains and sleep deprivation."
ABC News reports the defense offered its first two witnesses and the judge indicated attorneys may be ready to give closing arguments on Thursday.
Reuters reports:
"One of the defense witnesses called on Monday, political campaign strategist David Pasquinelli, testified he had worked with Sandusky on a $7 million fundraising campaign for the Second Mile from October 2007 to spring 2009.
"The two had almost daily contact with each other and made 15 to 20 trips by car together throughout Pennsylvania as part of the campaign, he said.
"Asked by Amendola to characterize the interaction he saw between Sandusky and children, he said: 'I saw a lot of goofing around. Jerry had a very unique way, and many of us were inspired by this, to relate to youth' on several levels."
The Los Angeles Times reports that today one charge against Sandusky was dropped, because "the state statute did not apply in the years the witness said he was abused."
Sandusky is now facing 51 counts — down from 52 — related to the abuse of 10 boys over 15 years. Sandusky has denied all the charges.
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Source: NPR
Comments [1]
Something to keep in mind-
Child predators are very cunning and manipulative. They know every trick on how to groom, threaten, lie, and put the fear of god into their victims and sometimes even their family members.
They also appear to do a lot of goods things, they can be very charismatic and you may think they would never harm a child. They have to be this way, in order to not get caught and to continue to abuse
Sexual predators are often powerful and well-loved. It would be comforting if those who preyed on the vulnerable were obvious social misfits whose appearance would somehow set off alarm bells and give us ‘the willies’ or ‘the creeps.’ They rarely do. Usually, predators are among the last people we would suspect of sexually violating others. At a party, the predator isn’t some oddball sitting alone in a corner because others feel uncomfortable with him. Most often, the predator is the guy throwing the party.
We must overcome the dangerous myth that because someone is successful or warm or caring, he or she “couldn’t have done that!
Also, we must stop thinking that because a man is old, that somehow he’s automatically “safe.” It’s just irresponsible to endanger kids by assuming an adult is “harmless” simply because he or she may be losing hair, wearing glasses, using hearing aids or walking with a cane. These can be signs of advancing age, but they are not signs that an individual is safe around kids.
It is extremely rare that a child predator has only one victim. Hopefully if anyone has knowledge or may have been harmed by Sandusky or anyone, they will contact the police.
Also keep in mind your silence only hurts, and by speaking up there is a chance for healing, exposing the truth, and therefore protecting others.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, 636-433-2511
snapjudy@gmail.com
"Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests" and all clergy.
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