Dottie Sandusky slams 'Happy Valley' documentary

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Dottie Sandusky, the wife of convicted child abuser Jerry Sandusky, penned an opinion piece saying a documentary about the abuse, Happy Valley, is not based in truth.

Dottie Sandusky wrote the article, published in The (Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News, in response to seeing the film, a copy of which she said she received from filmmaker John Ziegler.

"It purports to be the story of how my husband Jerry was protected from being found to be a supposed pedophile by the alleged football-crazed culture of State College," she said of the film. "As I watched it, I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I did know that almost none of this 'documentary' is based in the truth."

Dottie Sandusky took issue with her adopted son, Matt Sandusky, who appeared in the film to tell of his abuse at the hands of his adopted father.

"To even think that Matt could make these horrific claims, which our whole family knew to be untrue, was simply heartbreaking," Dottie Sandusky wrote.

She said Happy Valley presented a "misleading narrative" about her and Jerry Sandusky's interaction with Matt.

"They never tell you that Matt was adopted at 18 (well after he now says his abuse ended) and through the use of photos of Matt as a child and some bizarre conspiracy weaving from his attorney, the strong impression is left that we somehow used the courts to steal Matt from his natural mother so that Jerry could abuse him," she wrote. "That is simply absurd."

"I am aware that few people want to believe me and my other children when we say that Jerry is not a pedophile and that he did not commit the horrible crimes for which he was convicted (and given a virtual life sentence in prison)," Dottie Sandusky wrote.

This isn't the first time Dottie Sandusky has publicly come to her husband's defense.

In March, she told NBC's Today Show she thought the victims who testified against Jerry Sandusky were motivated by a big payday.