Legal Experts: Sandusky Interview Could Hurt His Case

Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky. (AP/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General)

The former Penn State assistant football coach at the heart of a massive sex scandal said he showered with young boys and hugged them but called the allegedly criminal contact “horseplay.”

Jerry Sandusky told NBC News’ “Rock Center” on Monday night that he was not a pedophile but, in retrospect, should not have showered with the boys he’s charged with sexually assaulting.

In an interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky, once considered the heir apparent to coaching legend Joe Paterno, proclaimed his innocence in the face of a series of startling allegations detailed in a grand jury report issued last week.

“I am innocent of those charges,” Sandusky said. “… I could say that I have done some of those things. 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.”

Sandusky is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year span, with some of the alleged crimes happening at Penn State, where he had access to campus as an emeritus professor following his 1999 retirement as Paterno’s top defensive assistant.

Asked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys, he said “sexually attracted, no. I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, but, no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

Defense attorney Tom Harvey told the New York Daily News that Sandusky’s admissions will be costly.

“He admitted he showered with little boys, he admitted he touched little boys’ legs, he hugged little boys, he’s saying people just made all this other stuff up…He’s just given up his Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate himself. All of that can and will be used against him,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this article.

Guest:

Kevin Armstrong, reporter for the New York Daily News

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Painterjc3

Why anyone would think it was a good idea to shower with young children especially a grown man is beyond disqusting. This guy is a pedophile plain and simple.
LTaylor

Sandusky’s lawyer tried to make it sound like the state had done something improper in not “finding” the boy from the shower, saying “interesting, isn’t it?” when Costas commented that the AG had not found him but the attorney had. How? It’s not “interesting” at all. Sandusky knew who his name, the state did not.
Kristin in Nashville

This isn’t about morals, child safety, or the difference between right and wrong. This is about the huge amounts of money involved in college football, plain and simple.
- Happy_Dancing_Monkey
  
  How does this have anything to do with College football other then it the person involved was an employee. Based on that connection should we decry Wisconsin cause that’s where Jeffrey Dahmer was born? College football teaches alot of young men about teamwork and commitment, not to mention in many schools it also allows sports to exist that make no money whatsoever. I get that you don’t like Football, but how is that relevant?
Anonymous

What I find most curious about Sandusky’s “defense” is his inexplicable silence when the accusations first started rolling.

Speaking for myself, the minute I got wind of an alleged incident like this, I’d be on the phone defending myself in a New York minute, not waiting a full week or more to make my case and let the suspicions fester, unchallenged.