Ex-neighbor: Sandusky home was kid magnet

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A former neighbor said the home of ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, facing dozens of sexual assault-related charges, was a child magnet.

Jeff Bryers, 42, a radio host in State College, Pa., said Sandusky was a "fun dad," but was rarely at his former home, which is why Bryers said he has trouble believing the sex abuse accusations, ABC News reported Wednesday.

Bryers said he was particularly troubled by an alleged victim who told a grand jury he was locked in the basement and raped by Sandusky, while yelling out to Dottie Sandusky, the coach's wife whom he said was upstairs. The victim told the grand jury she did nothing. Dottie Sandusky has denied the accusation.

Sandusky was arrested and charged in November with 50 sexual assault-related counts. An investigative grand jury's summary of testimony claimed, among other things, that Sandusky fondled, and engaged in anal and oral sex with young boys.

While it would have been out of character for the wife to do nothing, Bryers said recent conversations with some of the Sandusky children indicated some aspects of Sandusky's behavior worried her.

"She did have concerns. I think she was concerned that things could be misconstrued," Bryers told ABC News. "I think she had some conversations with him to make sure that he knew there was a danger in spending one-on-one time with kids … she was not thinking anything along the lines of rape. But there were situations, looking back on it, that he probably should have been more careful with boundaries."

There was never any indication that Sandusky is the man that his accusers say he is, Bryers said.

"It was one of the houses that kids would naturally gravitate toward," Bryers said. "He [Sandusky] would come outside and participate for a little while. He was definitely the 'fun dad' … [and it] was kind of neat to say you were hanging out with a Penn State football coach."

But Bryers said he wasn't remembering Sandusky with rose-colored glasses.

"A hug can be misconstrued," the former neighbor said. "But there's no way you can misconstrue anal rape."