Sandusky: Paterno never confronted him

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky denied child-molestation allegations and told a newspaper Joe Paterno never mentioned the accusations to him.

Sandusky told The New York Times Paterno never approached him about allegations of molestation in 1998 and 2002 or any other inappropriate behavior prior to his arrest last month.

"I never talked to him about either one," Sandusky said. "That's all I can say. I mean, I don't know.

"He's the only one who knows whether anybody ever said anything to him," Sandusky added.

Paterno's knowledge of the allegations against Sandusky has been a major question in the scandal. Sandusky is accused of repeatedly molesting boys connected to his charity over the years, sometimes on university property. Paterno has denied knowing anything even though one of his own assistants said he saw Sandusky molesting a child in a team shower room.

But Sandusky told the Times the charges in general were a big misunderstanding over his personal involvement with disadvantaged kids.

"They've taken everything that I ever did for any young person and twisted it to say that my motives were sexual or whatever," Sandusky said.

"I had kid after kid after kid who might say I was a father figure," he added. "And they just twisted that all."