STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State police and
their counterparts in State College said they had no record of a former
graduate assistant reporting a sexual assault by former assistant football
coach Jerry Sandusky on a 10-year-old boy in a campus shower, a detail that
runs counter to claims made in an email to former teammates.
The police response to Mike McQueary's claim that
he reported the alleged assault came shortly after a lawyer said Wednesday that
he had a client who would testify that he was sexually abused by Sandusky, who
is accused of abusing eight boys, some on campus, over 15 years.
"I am appalled by the fact that Mr. Sandusky
has elected to re-victimize these young men at a time when they should be
healing," Harrisburg attorney Ben Andreozzi said in a statement released
by his office. "He fully intends to testify that he was severely sexually
assaulted by Mr. Sandusky."
The client is not the same boy McQueary told a
grand jury he saw being sexually assaulted by Sandusky in a shower on university
property in 2002.
McQueary, who is now an assistant coach but has
been placed on administrative leave, wrote in the email given to The Associated
Press that he had "discussions with police and with the official at the
university in charge of police" about what he saw. In the email, McQueary
did not specify whether he spoke to campus or State College police.
State College borough police Chief Tom King said
McQueary didn't make a report to his department. Penn State spokeswoman
Annemarie Mountz said campus police also didn't have any record of a report
filed in 2002 by McQueary.
Mountz noted that the 23-page grand jury report was
the state attorney general's summary of testimony, so it's unclear what
McQueary's full testimony was. McQueary and a law firm representing him did not
return phone calls Wednesday.
Pennsylvania lawmakers are starting to plan for a
special commission that will examine the legal issues raised by the child
sex-abuse scandal, which has raised questions both ethical and criminal about
why allegations of abuse went unreported for so long.
The scandal has resulted in the ousting of school
President Graham Spanier and longtime coach Joe Paterno, and has brought shame
to one of college football's legendary programs. Athletic Director Tim Curley
has been placed on administrative leave, and Vice President Gary Schultz, who
was in charge of the university's police department, has stepped down.
Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the
grand jury and failure to report to police, and Sandusky is charged with child
sex abuse. All maintain their innocence.
The commission being set up by Pennsylvania
lawmakers will consider changes to state law in the wake of the scandal. The
plan was described as being in the planning stage, including meetings of
leaders and their aides.
Topics are likely to include mandatory reporting of
suspected abuse, and the legal definition of child abuse, said Senate
Democratic spokeswoman Lisa Scullin.
Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, appeared with him
on NBC's "Rock Center" on Monday night and cast doubt on the evidence
in the case.
"We anticipate we're going to have at least
several of those kids come forward and say, 'This never happened. This is me.
This is the allegation. It never occurred,'" Amendola said.
It remains unclear how many accusers have surfaced
more than a week after state police and the attorney general's office said at a
news conference they were seeking additional potential victims and witnesses.
Andreozzi said he has his "finger on the
pulse" of the case and knows of no accusers changing their stories or
refusing to testify.
"To the contrary, others are actually coming
forward, and I will have more information for you later this week,"
Andreozzi said.
State police spokeswoman Maria Finn said
investigators have told her that published accounts reporting how many people
have come forward are inaccurate and they are not disclosing their internal
figures.
Some plaintiffs' lawyers are starting to advertise
on their websites for potential Sandusky victims, vowing to get justice. Jeff
Anderson, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney, has long represented clergy abuse
victims and told The Associated Press that he has been retained by several
people he described as Sandusky victims.
"There's a great deal of fury and
confusion," particularly because Sandusky is free on bail, Anderson said.
"Getting (them) help and cooperating with law enforcement is our first
priority."
The "time for reckoning," in the form of
civil lawsuits, will come later, Anderson said.
Anderson declined to say whether his clients are
among the eight boys who were labeled as victims in the grand jury report.
A new judge has been assigned to handle the charges
against Sandusky. The change removed a State College judge with ties to a
charity founded by Sandusky for at-risk children, The Second Mile.
Sandusky is due in court on Dec. 7, and a
Westmoreland County senior district judge will preside over his preliminary
hearing. Robert E. Scott is taking over the hearing from Centre County District
Judge Leslie Dutchcot.
Dutchcot has donated money to The Second Mile,
where authorities say Sandusky met his victims. The office said Scott has no
known ties to Penn State or The Second Mile.
In State College, Penn State announced that David
M. Joyner, a physician and member of its board of trustees who played football
and wrestled for the school, will serve as acting athletic director, replacing
Curley on an interim basis.
New details have also emerged about how the case
ended up in the hands of the state attorney general's office. Former Centre
County District Attorney Michael Madeira said that his wife's brother was
Sandusky's adopted son.
"I reviewed it, and I made the decision it
needed to be investigated further," Madeira said. "But the apparent
conflict of interest created an impediment for me to make those kinds of
decisions."
Scolforo reported from Harrisburg and Dale from
Philadelphia. Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson reported from
Philadelphia.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
