An unexpected twist has emerged in the high-profile case of Jerry Sandusky, as one of the former Penn State football coach’s accusers is reportedly set to withdraw his previous testimony more than a decade after Sandusky’s conviction for child sex abuse.
Sandusky, now 82 years old, is scheduled for a court appearance on September 8, during an evidentiary hearing that promises to bring new revelations. One of his accusers, a key witness during the trial, reportedly intends to inform the court that Sandusky, the erstwhile defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, did not actually abuse him. The accuser alleges that his initial testimony was influenced by prosecutorial tactics, ABC News disclosed.
In a dramatic turn, the accuser, who goes by Victim 10, claims in a sworn affidavit acquired by the news outlet that prosecutors guided his testimony. They supposedly encouraged him to reconsider and reconstruct his statements, casting doubt on his prior allegations.
Victim 10 further asserts that throughout the pretrial phase, prosecutors suggested that any inconsistencies in his memory could be attributed to trauma, a claim meant to justify memory gaps.
“Throughout the pretrial process, I was informed—both overtly and subtly—that trauma might have fragmented my memory,” the affidavit states, according to ABC News. “I was told I could confidently affirm details I did not fully remember, and assured that this was a common, anticipated occurrence.”
Prosecutors are expected to address allegations at the hearing.
Sandusky’s defense team said in a motion seeking a new trial that Victim 10’s now-estranged wife was able to testify that he was not sexually abused by the ex-coach.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, however, said that the woman’s opinion on what she thinks may have happened to Victim 10 when he was 10 years old, or any other Sandusky child victim, was “irrelevant and inadmissible,” the outlet reported.
Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse in 2012 for sexually abusing 10 boys over the span of a decade. In 2019, his 30-to 60-year prison sentence was reaffirmed by a judge.
During his trial in 2012, victims testified that Sandusky subjected them to a spectrum of abuse, from grooming to violent attacks.
The abuse, which took place from 1994 to 2009, involved young men he met with his Second Mile Charity, an organization he founded for at-risk youth that he used to find and groom child victims.
Letters written by the victims described the effect of their abuse as boys and in the years since, detailing their anxiety, difficulty with family and social relationships, and anger about what occurred.
One of them, described as Victim 4 in court records, said he does not forgive Sandusky and spoke of efforts to “attack us as if we had done something wrong.”
Sandusky’s arrest in 2011 — he retired from coaching at Penn State in 1999 — also prompted the firing of Hall of Fame head coach Joe Paterno, who died of lung cancer less than three months later.
Penn State has also paid more than $100 million to people who said they had been abused by Sandusky.
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was previously convicted of child endangerment for failing to report the former coach’s abuse in 2001.
A federal judge tossed out Spanier’s conviction in 2019, a day before he was set to report to a two-month prison stint.
In 2024, Sandusky maintained his innocence from prison, insisting to the Daily Mail that his accusers were “coached and led” in their testimony and driven by money to lie.
“I never ever in my life ever thought about molesting anybody,” Sandusky told the outlet from Laurel Highlands State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.
“I was accused of heinous crimes, which I’ve never committed,” he added. “My wife was my only partner in sex and that was after marriage.”