Jerry Sandusky arrives for closing arguments in his child sex abuse case at Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania on June 21, 2012. UPI/George M Powers |
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa., July 26 (UPI) -- "Victim 2" in the case against convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky has indicated through his attorneys Thursday he intends to sue Penn State University.
Joel Feller and Matt Casey of the Philadelphia law firm Ross Feller Casey said their client -- who was seen in 2001 by assistant coach Mike McQueary being raped by Sandusky in a Penn State locker room shower -- was victimized both before and after that incident and intends to sue the university for failing to stop Sandusky's crimes, the (State College) Centre Daily Times reported.
McQueary reported the 2001 incident to head football Coach Joe Paterno, but law enforcement and child welfare authorities were never notified, and Sandusky persisted in abusing boys for years.
"Our client suffered extensive sexual abuse over many years both before and after the 2001 incident Michael McQueary witnessed in the Penn State Lasch building shower. Penn State has now admitted and there is no longer any question that its top officials could have and should have prevented these acts," the attorneys said in a statement. "Jerry Sandusky's abuse of Victim 2 and other children is a direct result of a conspiracy to conceal Sandusky's conduct and the decisions by top Penn State officials that facilitated and enabled his access to victims. We intend to file a civil lawsuit against Penn State University and others and to hold them accountable for the egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse our client suffered.
"Our client has to live the rest of his life not only dealing with the effects of Sandusky's childhood sexual abuse, but also with the knowledge that many powerful adults, including those at the highest levels of Penn State, put their own interests and the interests of a child predator above their legal obligations to protect him."
Penn State spokesman David La Torre said the university won't comment on pending legal action, saying, "President Erickson and the Board of Trustees have publicly emphasized that their goal is to find solutions that rest on the principle of justice for the victims."
