# Could Sandusky be innocent? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 15, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992 "2011-11-15T07:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/1 "2011-11-15T07:59:14Z")
I haven’t been following the story that closely, but it seems like with everyone jumping on Paterno and McQueary, Sandusky’s guilt is just being taken for granted. What is the nature of the evidence against him (other than McQueary’s testimony)? What are the chances he’s actually innocent? I understand he has denied the charges. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/2 "2011-11-15T08:03:38Z")
I was thinking the same thing. Unless Sandusky is lying. Would JoePa get his job back, since there was nothing to report? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/3 "2011-11-15T08:50:24Z")
I think the number of victims speaks to his potential guilt. I could see one troubled youth making up a horrible story to discredit him but eight? Eight men all deciding to make up a story that they were raped? Sandusky’s behavior, from what I’ve gathered following this case, has been odd for years. He had parents in 1998 begging him not to take showers with kids. His early retirement and the taking away of his keys to PSU facilities all suggests that this guy is the guiltiest shade of “innocent” there ever was. To put it in the simplest perspective, what would you as a parent do if you heard some guy was engaging in this kind of “horseplay” with your child? At the very least he’s guilty of inappropriate behavior towards children and abuse of his position of authority. At the very worst he’s a child rapist whose many many victims will probably never come forward out of shame or fear. I predict Sandusky will commit suicide when he realizes that the rest of his life is going to be filled with rape… with him as the victim. Rather than die in jail with some felon teaching him the true meaning of “tight end” he’ll take the coward’s way out and overdose on pills and booze, leaving behind a long-winded note about how sorry he is and how he never meant any harm when he raped those kids. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/4 "2011-11-15T10:27:44Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Would JoePa get his job back, since there was nothing to report? There _was_ [something](http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4181508116.PDF) to report. > [@](#): > > On Sunday, Paterno told Penn State athletic director Tim Curley that McQueary had seen Sandusky “ **fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy**.” \*\*emphasis added Of course, Sandusky _could_ be innocent (yeah, right), but Paterno had no way of knowing that at the time McQueary informed him of what he witnessed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/5 "2011-11-15T11:50:23Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > I haven’t been following the story that closely, but it seems like with everyone jumping on Paterno and McQueary, Sandusky’s guilt is just being taken for granted. What is the nature of the evidence against him (other than McQueary’s testimony)? IIRC there are witnesses to previous incidents in 1998 and 2000, both janitorial staff. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/6 "2011-11-15T13:09:34Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > I haven’t been following the story that closely, but it seems like with everyone jumping on Paterno and McQueary, Sandusky’s guilt is just being taken for granted. What is the nature of the evidence against him (other than McQueary’s testimony)? What are the chances he’s actually innocent? I understand he has denied the charges. Six victims testified at length and in great detail to a Grand Jury - the indictment was linked by **Mince** above. Even if you eliminate the two parts of the indictment where the victim’s identity is unknown (2 & 8), it’s pretty damning stuff. The whole Paterno/McQueary/PSU thing is honestly just a sideshow, and has little to do with Sandusky’s actual guilt. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/7 "2011-11-15T13:51:14Z")
And at least 10 more victims have contacted the DA as of today. This will never even make it to trial, the evidence is going to be overwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/8 "2011-11-15T15:15:03Z")
There are like 18 other threads on Sandusky - you couldn’t have asked this in one of those threads? ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/9 "2011-11-15T16:45:35Z")
Egads. I was actually hoping that this was somehow a huge mistake, but apparently this guy really is a serial child-rapist. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. This is about as evil as I can imagine. Honestly, raping young people that you were supposed to be helping? If there is a hell, there is a special section set aside for this man. I am not a Penn State or Joe Paterno fan, but this is one horrific way to leave a program. I doubt if anyone could have sold this plot as a movie. The reaction would have been, “Are you kidding? Who the hell would believe that crap?!?” But, as they say, ‘truth is stranger than fiction’. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/10 "2011-11-15T17:20:57Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I doubt if anyone could have sold this plot as a movie. The reaction would have been, “Are you kidding? Who the hell would believe that crap?!?” Where have you been for the last 20-30 years of scandal involving priests in the Roman Catholic church? It’s horrific, but certainly not without precedent. It’s all too believable, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/11 "2011-11-15T17:28:32Z")
When asked point-blank on NBC whether he was a pedophile/sexually attracted to young boys, Sandusky replies (paraphrased) “sexually attracted?..Well, I like young people, I like being around them, but…um…sexually attracted? no…”. He admits to doing “some of the things” he’s been accused of - what he calls “horseplay” and showering naked with boys, and touching them (“their legs”) while naked, and describes the day that McQueary saw them as running around with all the shower heads turned on, and “sliding across the floor”. I don’t have much doubt as to his guilt, personally. He’s admitted just a little too much, and the evidence that much, much more has happened is becoming overwhelming. Really, in what world is going on NBC and interviewing with Bob Costas a good idea when you’re accused of multiple counts of sexual assault on a minor?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/12 "2011-11-15T17:30:16Z")
As someone who watched Sandusky coach dozens of games (many of those at the stadium), I wouldn’t want to believe I’d watched and cheered for a monster all these years. But it’s impossible not to believe it. Thinking otherwise would mean that every kid in the deposition, most of whom had no way of contacting each other, made up the same story out of whole cloth. We’d have to believe that Sandusky offered no defense to the accusations of one victim, not because he was guilty, but because he cared so little about his reputation that he didn’t care if people thought he was a child molester. We’d have to believe that a current assistant coach made a completely false accusation about a then-respected figure in the program and not only stayed in his job but was continually promoted afterward. We’d have to believe that Sandusky was banned from bringing kids on campus for…well, I’m not sure for what reason, then. It’s just too much to have to juggle. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/13 "2011-11-15T18:54:02Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Really, in what world is going on NBC and interviewing with Bob Costas a good idea when you’re accused of multiple counts of sexual assault on a minor?!?! In the world where you hire a defense attorney who, at the age of 48, represented his 16 year old pregnant girlfriend in her suit to be legally emancipated from her parents. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/14 "2011-11-15T20:21:12Z")
If true this is one hell of a surprise. The kid in the shower \*testified \*that it never happened? \ I know there’s got to be more to than the story than this. Still, it’s interesting. I guess the guy (he would have been an adult when he faced the grand jury) was to embarrassed to admit he was buggered by this pedo pervert. > [@](#): > > The lawyer for the Penn State football coach charged with child sex abuse said in an interview on Monday the boy at the center of a 2002 incident detailed in the grand jury’s report had been identified and said it never happened. > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/15 "2011-11-15T20:27:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > If true this is one hell of a surprise. The kid in the shower \*testified \*that it never happened? No, the story doesn’t say anything about _testimony_. The defense lawyer says the alleged victim _says_ the abuse didn’t happen. If he had testified to that effect before the grand jury, it would be a whole other story. The lawyer goes on to say he expects (which means what?) several of those kids will deny being abused. Which doesn’t necessarily prove anything one way or the other. For now, it’s the defense trying to counter the tidal wave of bad publicity by saying “at least several” people will deny being abused by Sandusky. Meaning they hope it’ll be enough to cast doubt on everyone who maintains that he was abused, since there have been reports that the police are continuing to get new reports from people who say Sandusky abused them. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/16 "2011-11-15T20:39:26Z")
Sorry. I got thrown by “detailed in the grand jury report” I thought they meant he testified. It sounded like details contained within the report said… There’s some strange wording in that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/17 "2011-11-15T21:19:53Z")
The defense may be counting on people seeing the headline and assuming it’s about testimony and not about what someone supposedly told them in private. They lawyers are going to engage in various kinds of positioning even if the case never goes to trial. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/18 "2011-11-15T21:26:12Z")
It is _possible_ that Sandusky’s innocent. But he’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/19 "2011-11-15T21:34:59Z")
Most lawyers on the sports radio shows this morning said the interview was a signal to his co-defendants to keep to the story (just harmless horseplay, nothing sexual). It wasn’t given for the benefit of the general public, who have already made up their minds. The lawyers I heard said it probably wouldn’t make much difference, but it was his best course of action. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992/20 "2011-11-15T21:54:35Z")
In the interview, it seemed to me that the lawyer implied that _they_ knew who the boy McQueary saw was, but 'tee-hee, imagine that" the prosecution didn’t. Are we to understand that they aren’t sharing this information with the State, but it conveniently supports the accused’s story? That part seemed…weird…and I don’t know what to make of it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sandusky-be-innocent/602992.md?page=2)