A man claiming to have been sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky in a shower in Penn State's football complex – Victim No. 2 in Sandusky's trial – is suing the university, his lawyers said Thursday. The lawyers also released two chilling audio clips that they say are phone messages from Jerry Sandusky to their client.
In the messages, from September 2011, Sandusky talks about moving forward and having nothing to hide. In one message, Sandusky offers an invitation to a Penn State football game. He ends both calls with "love you."
Accusations against Sandusky, a former Penn State football coach who was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse in June, first surfaced last fall, and the scandal quickly engulfed the entire Penn State football program.
Legendary coach Joe Paterno was fired in November. In July, a report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh claimed that top Penn State officials, including Paterno, were aware of accusations against Sandusky as far back as 1998, but did not report them to police to protect the football program. On Monday, the NCAA hit Penn State with stiff sanctions that could cripple the football team for years.
The phone calls are from September of 2011.
On Sept. 12, 2011, the phone message from "Jere" talks about wanting to move forward and having nothing to hide:
"Jere. Um. I am probably not going to be able to get a hold of anybody. Um. Uh. Probably ought to just go forward. Uh. I would be very firm and express my feelings, uh, upfront. Um. But, uh, you know, there is nothing really to hide so. Um. If you want, give me a call. You can call me on my other cell phone or on this one, either one so. Alright, take care. Love you. Uh. Hope you get this message. Thanks."
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A week later, the message is an invite to a Penn State game:
"Just calling to see, you know, whether you had any interest in going to the Penn State game this Saturday. Uh. If you could get back to me and let me know, uh, I would appreciate it and when you get this message, uh, give me a call and I hope to talk to you later. Thanks. I love you."
The statement from the lawyers says there are numerous voicemails to Victim No. 2 from Sandusky as "the likelihood of his indictment became more apparent." They claim the messages indicate that Sandusky was "attempting to exert control over our client even as his arrest for child sexual abuse became immenent." The statement says Victim No. 2 wants to hold officials accountable for "egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse.''
Penn State says it cannot comment on pending litigation.
Prosecutors have said they don't know the identity of the boy molested by Sandusky in 2001. The encounter is the one former graduate assistant Mike McQueary testified that he witnessed in a lockerroom shower at Penn State and reported to school officials, including Paterno, but none of them told police.
Jurors in the Sandusky trial aquitted him on the charge of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with Victim No. 2. "The reason we held back is because we didn't have the evidence," juror Joshua Harper told The Today Show the morning after the verdicts. Victim No. 2 did not testify in the Sandusky trial.
The victim is not named in the statement, and the AP generally does not identify victims of sex crimes without their consent.
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